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PRIMEVAL FOREST IN THE CORIM l.l.KR \S MOINTAIXS, SALTA, 
ARGENTINE REPUIU.U' 



6 



Spanish America 



^^ 



FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO 
THE PRESENT TIME 



BY 



JULIAN HAWTHORNE 



ILLUSTRA TED 






NEW YORK 

PETER FENELON COLLIER & SON 

M C M I 



>%> 



CoPYRtOHT, 1800, 



FSTER FKNELON COLUER, 

'o 2 



f 



5c 







CONTENTS 



PAKT I. 

PREFACE 1 

I. ONCE UPON A TIME 6 

II. THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 88 

III. THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS AND MAGELLAN ..70 



PART II. 

L THE AGE OF CORTES 105 

IL PASSING UNDER THE YOKE .160 

III. PIZ ARRO 196 

IV. CHILI 233 

V. MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 268 

VL THE SEQUEL OF CORTES .805 

\fll. THE WEST INDIES : 336 



FART III, 

I. THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 375 

n. THE FINAL STRUGGLE .....412 

m. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 450 

(iii) 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



SPANISH AMERICA 

Frontispiece — Primeval Forest in the Cordilleras Mountains, Salta, At- i/^ 
gentine Republic .......... 

^ Bakairi Youths 

- South American Indians ......... c 

Bogota, Colombia (From a photograph) .....,: 

The Pampas in the Argentine Republic . . , . . t 

^Guayaquil Harbor, Ecuador «, ^ 

' Valparaiso ..,.,,;., „ - , 



PREFACE 



The close of this century witnesses a remarkable 
dramatic episode in the war between the United States 
and Spain, which has just been brought to an end. 
One of the oldest and once most powerful States of 
Europe, now worn out, and bowed with feebleness, re- 
linquishes the empire in the west and in the east which 
it has held during four centuries, and retires within its 
original boundaries. And into its place, the inheritor of 
its burdens and responsibilities, steps the newest and 
strongest nation of the modern world, erect and confi- 
dent, with the boundless future lying fair before it. It 
is a vivid illustration of Tennyson's profound apothegm — 

"The old Order changeth, giving place to new, 
And God fulfils Himself in many ways.'' 

It is an opportune moment in which to pass in re- 
view the history of Spain's acquisition of her colonial 
empire, of the manner of her administration of it, and of 
the way she lost it. In the following pages an attempt 
has been made to throw upon the screen the series of 
pictures which tell the tale. It is not "a tale full of 
sound and fury, signifying nothing." Sound and fury 
indeed it contains in abundance; but its significance is 
deep and tragic, and its moral weighty. It is well that 

(1) 



2 PREFACE 

we should ponder it, standing as we do on the threshold 
of our own career. Spain's pohtical deeds have been 
for the most part evil. Evil deeds, in men and in na- 
tions, are the result of predisposing conditions and qual- 
ities. All men inherit the same nature, and are prone 
to commit, under temptation, the same sins. The United 
States prides itself on its enlightenment, its civilization, 
its humanity and its democracy. It has the virtues of 
its era. But when Spain arose in her northern moun- 
tains and drove the Moor step by step from her pen- 
insula, she too was enlightened and civilized; and 
whatever Christian virtues characterized the eleventh 
centur3", Spain possessed. She was religious, learned, 
artistic, and brave. From the eleventh to the sixteenth 
century she increased in power and wealih, but in 
character she became debased and corrupt. Her religion 
became bigotry, her strength tyrann}', her pride nour- 
ished itself on greed for wealth and for territory which 
breeds wealth. She perpetrated hideous cruelties in the 
name of God and of civilization. She became the dead- 
liest foe of that human liberty which she had cham- 
pioned 60 valiantly in her Moorish wars. Every nation 
of Europe owed her a grudge; she obstructed commerce" 
and industry, and lay sullen and inert before the path 
of progress. The world, and the spirit of the new ages 
was against her, and inevitably she fell, contesting 
every inch with her old stubbornness, but without her 
old strength. She did not repent; she admitted the 
commission of no wrong. To-day, crushed without an 
effort by the Western Republic, she stands bleeding 
and beggared, and none is so poor to do her rever- 
ence. But her trao-ic fate mav well teach a lesson to 



PREFACE 3 

her conqueror. Great opportunities, and with them 
great temptations, are before us. Spain started with 
hopes as fair as ours. Let us so act before God and 
man that we may not end in despair as dark as hers! 
Already tendencies are visible in our social and indus- 
trial life which, if indulged, might easily bring us, too, 
to shame. Of the talents which God has intrusted to 
us, He will require a strict account. 

The history of Spanish America could not be other 
than a record of bloodshed and oppression, which at 
last becomes monotonous to wearisomeness ; but it is 
not the less full of romance and interest. There is a 
rich picturesqueness about it which compels the atten- 
tion; and striking figures throng its scenes and pro- 
voke our wonder and occasionally our admiration. It 
involves the story of the mightiest discovery of medi- 
eval times — the revelation of a new and unsuspected 
world. It illustrates the marvellous manner in which 
Providence compels the very selfishness of men to labor 
and build for others than themselves. "Our foes inherit 
us." It shows how impotent evil is to turn aside the 
stream of tendency, not ourselves, which makes for 
righteousness. 

In preparing the present volume, no attempt has 
been made to embody new material. The work is de- 
signed for the general reader, not for the curious 
scholar. To Prescott, Fiske, Bandolier, Hancock, Susan 
Hale, Theodore Child, W. H. Bishop, and many more, 
the author is indebted; and he has found much of 
value in current magazines and journals. The "Century 
Dictionary of Names" has proved itself of great use as 
an accurate and fertile book of reference His own 



4 PREFACE 

part in his volume has been that o£ an arranger and 
occasional commentator. Often, too, it has been that 
of an emitter; for the space at his -disposal made a 
careful selection indispensable; and in Spanish Ameri- 
can history more than in many histories, events occur 
which are practically repetitions of one another. 

The chapter of our administrative experiences with 
our new West Indian possessions remains to be written, 
because the experiences themselves are still to come. One 
can only wish that, should the chapter in question ever 
appear, its contents may be such as to make it the 
brightest and most agreeable of the book. 

JULIAN HAWTHORNE. 



HAWTHORNE'S 
HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



PART I 



ONCE UPON A TIME 

TELLERS of mediaeval fairy-tales were wont to be 
chary of fixing their dates, probably from a feeling 
that dates were incompatible with the free conditions 
of fairyland. Therefore they devised that phrase, "Once 
upon a time," with which all the legitimate stories which 
enchanted our nursery days begin, and which may mean 
eitlier any period of the unmeasured past, or else some in- 
stant of the eternal Now upon \7hich the mysterious ship 
of Humanity is launched. Traditional usage has conferred 
upon the quaint form of words a charm of satisfaction which 
no more definite formula could convey ; we love it because 
it gives the imagination scope, and takes us out of the iron 
routine of the material world, where all things must occur 
in right order and sequence, and one day omitted or out of 
place upsets the balance of an entire chronology. Anything 
may have happened "once upon a time"; but at any speci- 
tiod time, only one thing could have happened in any given 
place ; and the impalpable horizons of fancy become an ada- 
mantine dome, which fits accurately over the landscape, and 
will not budge a hair-breadth upon any consideration. Man 
is justified in feeling restive under the tyranny of time; for 
the soul is immortal, and has no concern with arbitrarj'' meas- 
urements. And the soul looks forward to a state of freedom 

(5) 



HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

from material limitations, wlieu past and future shall be fused 
in an ever abiding present, and the life of the passing instant 
shall fill the confines of the univei*se. 

Upon the relatively vast extent of this planet's duration, 
the recorded history of mankind makes but a little mark. A 
few thousand years are set off upon a line of many millions. 
The times before man are so immeasurable when compared 
with the time of his existence, that we might regard him, 
from the chronological standpoint, as the creature of but a 
moment. It is not until we think of him as a spirit embodied 
that he assumes his proper stature. All that preceded him 
was as nothing; "Darkness was upon the face of the Deep." 
Those semi-infinite geologic epochs lapsed and succeeded one 
another for his sake; the blind cells that drifted in the wash 
of prehistoric oceans; the strange serpent-forms that fought 
one another in the slime ; the amorphous beasts that roamed 
the uuimagined forests of the Prime, and dragged their pon- 
derous length along the ghastly coasts, breathing a turgid, 
torrid atmosphere, through which the images of sun and 
moon showed dim-red ajid ominous: — i\il these Avere but 
prophetic of the human being to come, and owe to him 
alone their excuse for being. Vainly do we attempt to 
conceive of a period when man Wiis not; nor, in truth, 
has such a period ever existed, for man was ever implied, 
though not yet actually present. In the incandescent gases 
revolving in the vast of space were contained the elements 
destined at last to be f iishioned into his body and limbs ; and 
the uncouth and imperfect shapes of geologic animals were 
the obscure forecast of what he was to be. Mineral, vege- 
table and animal slowly and unconsciously perfected them- 
selves while far off his coming shone. When the hour was 
ripe, and his kingdom ready, the monarch of all appeared, 
and rose erect upon his feet, with his brow toward heaven, 
and looked abroad, and gave to each living thing its name. 
The world— the universe, which spread around him, was 
his, for it was he; he wj^ its epitome, its cause, its end. 
Nothing in it was alien from him ; no remotest star in the 



ONCE UPON A TIME t 

firmament but was made of the identical stuff which consti- 
tuted his body and bones. Time and space, those master 
twin-iUusions of the mortal senses, began with him — v^ith 
the workings of that brain which first perceived the rela- 
tions of phenomena, and translated the conditions of the 
immortal spirit into the language of transient matter. AH 
that heretofore had been dead and purportless sprang, be- 
neath his comprehending glance, into life and meaning. 
When did man begin? Not when the clay of the earth 
first assumed the image of the Creator and received into 
its nostrils the breath of life; but when the pregnant thought 
of the human race was launched from the mind of Deity andj 
guided by eternal law, set forth on its stupendous journey 
from the whirl of fiery vapors to the shapes of the men and 
women of to-day. Was it a thousand million years ago, or 
Was it yesterday? It is all one ; since the real man is a spirit, 
which has no concern with time ; and his experience of mat- 
ter is but a passing incident of his everlasting development 
and progress. Let us use again the ancient, homely phrase^ 
and say that it all happened Once upon a time ! 

It seems singular that in accounting for the Western Coa- 
tinent, which we call the New World, we should find our- 
selves forced back not only into the half-legendary epochs of 
early Asiatic and European history, but further still toward 
that dark backward and abysm of time which far antedate 
all records. ' Taking the point of view that America was to 
be discovered, we find the movement toward it beginning at 
almost any point we please. But by a common agreement 
we have assumed that the race of man commenced a migra- 
tion, in a westerly direction, from somewhere in the heart of 
Asia. A very leisurely migration it was, the stages of which 
were measured by hundreds or even by thousands of years. 
It had no defined object, beyond the desire, or the necessity^ 
to escape from a present environment. Of its first movements 
we know nothing save by inference ; nor can we teli why the 
movement was westward instead of eastward. Possibly there 



ti HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

was a va^ue ciiriositj^ in the huuian mind to find out where 
tho sun wont to on his daily journey; his sotting: was in 
splontlv>i', and porhaps thoso who shouUl discover the hind 
of the ji^oUlen west wouUl meet with glorious experiences. 
But the risini>" of the sun is also glorious; and why should 
not prinuiive man have sought fortune in that direction? 
Perhaps, indeed, he did ; but so long ago that iu> memory 
of it remains. For aught Ave can say, the pressure of popu- 
lation in the Asiatic valleys may lirst have sought relief by 
sending out pioueors toward the rising sun ; and it may be 
these people who iX'cupied the American continent. At that 
time it is probable that a. man might walk dry-shod from Asia 
to America, by the northerly route ; there were no straits of 
Bering in those days. In fact, the geography of the world 
was doubtless very ditferent tlien from what it is now. Con- 
tinents wei^e broader, and islands fewer. Europe extended 
fai* into the Atlantic ; and the legend of Atlantis may have 
better warrant tlifm modern historians and geographers are 
willing to admit. It was rumored to extend from near the 
west coast of Africa to the neighborhood of Central America, 
and to have been inhabited by a powerful and civilized race. 
But in some mighty convulsion of nature the great isUind 
sank beneath the sea, with most of its inhabitants. We might 
surmise, however, that some of them, forewarned of the de- 
struction to come, may have succeeded in escaping to the 
African and American slioi*es. or to one of them. And since 
imagiiuvtion is frtv. we may suppi.>se that the moi'e civilized 
races of America, of whom at pi-esent only a vague tradition 
remains, sucli Jt* the Toltecs. and Piruivs, may have been the 
survivoi^ of rhat appalling catat^tivphe. There is, to be sure, 
no foundation for such a hypothesis; but, on the other hand, 
the chief reason adduced for disbelieving in Atlantis is the 
ascertained fact that the Atlantic is two niiles deep over the 
tireiv which the island is said to have occupied. The lu-gu- 
ment can haa-dly be consideivd conclusive; a subsidence of 
two miles is little more remarkable than one of half a mile. 
Xevertheless. the existence of Atlfmtis must be conceded to 



ONCE UPON A TIME 9 

be very doubtful, to say the most of it ; and as for the Tol- 
tecs and Piruas, there is in their traditions nothing sugges- 
tive of their having come ashore from a submerged island. 
When asked their origin, they commonly pointed toward the 
North ; — or to be more precise, those who purported to be their 
descendants did so. 

For a time, theories founded upon this hint obtained gen- 
eral credence with historians. Books have been written to 
prove that America was settled by the lost tribes of Israel. 
The lost tribes must have gone somewhere: why not east- 
ward by way of Siberia? But the enlarged views of later 
days make it seem probable that the Israelites were still in 
the womb of time long after- America had been settled by 
the Red Men. It would seem more hopeful to identify our 
Indians with the Biblical Adam, whose name means red men; 
and accordingly a recent enthusiast has discovered the site of 
the Garden of Eden in Central America, and even declares 
he has found the self -same club with which Cain wreaked 
his vengeance upon Abel for being more favored by the 
Almighty than himself. This prompts the reflection that 
there may be such a thing as discovering too much. Such 
speculations incline to fade in the light of late geological 
revelations. These inform us that during the Pleistocene 
period a large portion of the northern hemisphere of the 
earth was covered with a thick coat of snow and ice. In 
America, the limit of the glaciers was as far south as North 
Carolina. How long ago was this? Obviously there must 
be a limit, since we know that there was an epoch when tha 
earth was still so hot that such a phenomenon as the freez- 
ing of water was inconceivable. Experts seem inclined to 
the opinion that the Glacial epoch was coincident with the 
last period of high eccentricity of the earth's orbit, which 
began some two hundred and forty thousand years ago. 
Our globe swung so far away from the neighborhood of 
the sun that the climate was profoundly affected; and vari- 
ations occurred which it is anything but comfortable even to 
imagine. Anything beyond imagination will not be required 



10 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

of us ; since the ice age is well past, and is not scheduled to 
return until after some eight hundred thousand years hence, 
more or less. But during its presence, it made its mark, 
which is still legible. 

But what relation does the ice age bear to human history? 
Simply this — that many traces of the existence of man on 
this continent during the last ice age have been discovered. 
Stone weapons and todls, made by human hands, have been 
found in the Glacial drift ; stniy fragments of the bones of 
the makers themselves are not unknown; and some five and 
twenty years ago there was found by Dr. Abbott a number 
of paleolithic objects in Glacial drift along the banks of the 
Delaware River. These tools and utensils were last in use 
about one hundred and fifty thousand years ago. As for 
the famous Calaveras skull, found in the county of that 
name in 18G6, it has been assigned a date twice as remote 
as the above ; and there are not wanting persons- who affirm 
that the man who wore it may have lived not less than a 
million years before this age. Plainl^^, Science, in this mat- 
ter, is open to the charge of indulging in a little guess-work. 
Practically, however, in the present infantine condition of 
historical knowledge, it can make no difference whether we 
say that the Calaveras man is one hundred and fifty, or three 
handred thousand years old; or whether we go the full limit 
of a million. In any case, the gap between him and any- 
thing relating to mankind that is matter of historic certainty, 
is so prodigious as to make the hope of ever spanning it seem 
fantastic. The only assurange to be derived from these dis- 
coveries is, that pian lived here in the west indefinite ages 
before the earliest traces of him in the written records of 
Asia and Europe. This, of course, is not to say that pre- 
historic man in America antedates prehistoric man on the 
eastern hemisphere. No doubt they were contemporaneous 
— six of one and half a dozen of the other. The real ques- 
tion of interest is, what was man doing between the time 
that we find him in geology, and the time that we find him 
in written records'? And the problem is even more puzzling 



ONCE UPON A TimiE 11 

in this continent than in the eastern one, for the reason that 
our red Indians are so nearly primitive a race even yet as 
scarcely to have emerged above savagery, and still to be in 
the midst of barbarism. They are to-day in the condition of 
some of the elder Asiatic peoples before the Egyptian pyra- 
mids were built. "What is the cause which rendered them so 
much more backward than their Asiatic contemporaries? 

To this, as to many a similar query, the Evolutionists are 
ready with an answer, and a plausible one. These disciples 
of Darwin have made their views conspicuous of late, and 
they will by no means be ignored here; though it may as 
well be stated at the outset that we shall not always accept 
their conclusions implicitly. The philosophy which they ex- 
ploit is a new one, and to many minds has the charm of 
novelty ; it seems to explain so much that they are fain to 
believe it capable of explaining everything. Their cardinal 
principle is, that the future is involved in the past. And 
it is their leading contention that man was immediately 
derived from the ape. So positive are their affirmations, 
and so beguiling their arguments, that persons of culture 
and prudence are very shy of opposing them. If, for exam- 
ple, man is not the offspring of the ape, of what is he the 
offspring? That the connecting link still delays to be dis- 
covered (in spite of many false alarms) is nothing; he will 
be discovered some day. That the attempt to generate life 
from inanimate matter has hitherto failed is nothing ; some- 
body may so generate it at any moment. Or if you profess a 
difficulty in comprehending how more can be taken out of 
the bag than has been put into it in the first place — ^how 
man can be derived from monkey unless he was previously 
contained in him — how there can be evolution without an- 
terior involution, in short — you get answers which, if not 
perfectly clear, are at least sufficiently voluble. Meanwhile 
it is abundantly plain that, even as nature is said to abhor 
a vacuum, so does the evolutionist abhor the alternative of 
conceding what he is pleased to term a miraculous creation. 
If one order of animals does not spontaneously grow out of 



12 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

another, in consequence of the law of the survival of the 
fittest, and of the influence of environment, then, mani- 
festly, we are driven to assume that God must have cre- 
ated all creatures in a series, one above another, and yet 
distinct and independent. Instead of having set Creation 
going with one initial bang, and ever after taking His ease, 
He must be supposed to be constantly at work, and to be, if 
anything, busier now than during the Biblical Seven Days. 
Instead of deftly sliding the instinct of the last ape into the 
reason of the first man. He must have endowed the latter 
with a distinct and unprecedented gift, bearing just enough 
resemblance to instinct to mislead the impulsive evolutionist. 
And to revert to the point whence this digression began, 
He must have delayed the development of the American red 
men for other reasons, and in other ways, than the ingenious 
evolutionists imagine. They say that it was simply a matter 
of the lack of cattle. 

It is a very shrewd suggestion. But there was once an 
evolutionist who observed that a dog, before sitting down 
on the rug before the fire, turned round upon himself twice 
or thrice as if undetermined which side of his circle should 
ie fire ward, and which away from it : or perhaps with the 
hope of getting all sides toward the fire at once. Now why 
(said the evolutionist to himself) does the dog do this? It 
must be the survival in him of some ancient habit, when 
things were different from what they are now. And forth- 
with he sent his educated intelligence back along the stream 
of time, until he reached the primal dog, in his primal envi- 
ronment. That • environment, the evolutionist felt safe in 
assuming, had been partly grass; and, indeed, grass of an 
unusually tall and stubborn sort. When the primal dog, 
Inexperienced as yet in the luxuries of downy hearthrugs, 
wished to lie down, he was inconvenienced by this tall grass 
sticking up all round him, antagonizing his comfort and 
obstructing his view. But he was equal to the occasion ; he 
turned himself round and round until the tiresome grass was 
flattened down into a sort of nest, devoid of sharp upstarting 



ONCE UPON A TIME lb 

points, upon which he could repose in peace and security. 
How long it took the primal dog to hit upon this clever 
device we are not informed; but having once hit upon it, 
he repeated it so often, that even till this day, several hun- 
dred thousand years later, and upon rugs which are innocent 
of the discomforts which appertained to the primal grass 
beds, the habit sticks to him, and round and round needs 
must he revolve, in unconscious subservience to his own pre- 
historic ingenuity. Thus, at least, reasoned the evolutionist 
— or so it was pretended by the practical joker who, witli 
satirical intent, invented the illustration. 

Now, the strange — the wellnigh inconceivable feature of 
this story is, that it was accepted ever since in sad earnest 
by too credulous evolutionists, who have quoted it with 
eagerness and applause, and instanced it in their books. 
The patent and preposterous absurdity of the notion has 
never once come in contact with their sense of humor; and 
it is to be feared that this imbecility on their part has caused 
widespread distrust in the lay mind as to the soundness of 
their conclusions in general. For if men could be found who 
Would swallow such a camel as that, how many a gnat might 
they not have inadvertently assimilated? — Of course no dog 
ever does or ever did turn round in grass in order to make a 
better lair for himself ; and consequently, no dog turns round 
on the hearthrug to-day because of the survival in his brain 
of the habit then acquired. Nor, for that matter, would he do 
so in any case ; the habits due to environment wear off, when 
the environment changes, as quickly as they were adopted. 

Now, as to the assertion that cattle are the first cause of 
civilization, it is, as has been admitted, a shrewd one; but 
it is pure assumption. A condition and a relation are found, 
and an explanation of them is invented. But it is just as 
reasonable to say that civilization causes cattle, as the re- 
verse. It is true that the domestication of animals is a con- 
comitant of civilized life; it is true that cows and horses 
existed in the eastern hemisphere and not in the western; 
it is true that civilization in the former greatly antedates it 



14 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

in the latter part of the world. But it by no means follows 
that civilization in America might not have been accom- 
plished without the cows and horses of Europe and Cathay. 
There was an epoch when there were no domestic cattle in 
the old world; but in the course of thousands of years cer- 
tain animals were caught and tame.d, and by and by they 
appeared as horses, cows and sheep. The cattle did not 
come ready-made to the savage man, and induce him to be 
civilized; but he, feeling within himself the impulse toward 
civihzation, transformed wild beasts into cattle. In other 
words, civilization began in man, and not outside of him. 
In America, the animals which we now know as cattle 
did not exist. But there were other animals, in America, 
which might have been made-over into cattle, if our red 
men had felt the disposition to do so. There is the rein- 
deer, for example, the buffalo, and, in the south, the llama. 
And, as a matter of fact, the llama was domesticated, after 
unnumbered ages' of training ; and so was the reindeer. Did 
civilization follow? In the case of the Piruas and Incas, a 
partial civilization did follow (or accompany) the achieve- 
ment ; in the case of the Esquimaux it did not. Meanwhile 
it seems evident that the domestication of both llamas and 
reindeer was the outcome of necessity ; the people needed the 
creatures in their business; but there is nothing to show that 
the llamas civilized the Piruas, while on the other hand it is 
manifest that the reindeer failed to soften the manners of 
the Esquimaux. As for the buffalo, they have never been 
tamed, and the Indian tribes of North x4.merica have re- 
mained barbarians. But will any one assert that it was 
impossible to tame buffalo? In the course of two hundred 
and forty thousand years, more or less, might not this feat 
have been accomphshed? Is the wild buffalo any wilder 
than the primitive llama or reindeer? That they were not 
domesticated, then, must be owing to the fact that our red 
men did not care to domesticate them. With the alleged 
material for civilization at hand, they declined to avail 
themselves of it. And what judgment can we pronounce 



ONCE UPON A TIME 15 

thereupon, but that the impulse toward civilization did not 
exist in the Indian's soul? Nor has it been created in him 
since the advent of civilized Europe four hundred years ago. 
He is either as wild as he was at first, or he is moribund. 

Upon the whole, therefore, we miist regard the theory 
that cattle make civilization as not proven, to say the best 
of it ; and consequently we are still in the dark as to the 
causes which advanced man in the east and kept him in 
statu quo in the west. But as to the fact itself there is no 
question. . The northern tribes of our continent are wholly 
uncivilized ; so are those in the extreme south ; but in the 
semi-tropic regions we find a sort of civilization, conform- 
able to the leisure which a warm and fertile climate makes 
possible, and to the sedentary habits which a relaxing tem- 
perature fosters. It must be borne in mind, too, that the 
population in the southern regions was denser in the given 
area than it was further north, compelling the people to ad- 
just themselves one with another, and thus promoting the 
development of stable villages or cities. Central America 
is narrow; and Peru arid Chih are so hemmed in between 
the Andes and the Pacific as to be practically scamped for 
room. And it is in the crowded valleys of Mexico and the 
Isthmus, and along the ocean shores further south, that we 
find the greatest development in the arts of life among the 
original denizens of this continent. But are our Indians 
original denizens of the continent in the full sense of the 
term? And has there been, in former times, a compara- 
tively civilized race in the north, which gradually moved 
southward, whose relics we find among the Aztecs and Incas 
of a recent day? Do the mounds which are found in many 
places in the north represent the work of a people possessed 
of science and power, which disappeared so long ago that no 
memory of them remains? Is the Cyclopean architecture of 
Yucatan and Peru the monument of an affluent civilization 
superior to anything known at the time of the Spanish con- 
quest, which has left no other record of itself than this? 

These problems, and cognate ones, have been much dis- 



IQ HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

cussed diiriug the past half century. They are still imsolved; 
but the latest investigators incline to the opinion that the red 
men of North and Central America have always formed sub- 
stantially one race, which has never undergone any impor- 
tant changes, other than the variations of custom and con- 
dition due to environment. Whether or not this race be 
indigenous is of small moment, provided we assume that 
their advent from some other place occurred, if at all, be- 
fore the period of any human records. If the immigration 
occurred before the time of the man of Calaveras, they ai-e 
indigenous to all intents and purposes. But may they not 
have come hither within times much more recent? Attempts 
have been made, in this connection, to establish points of simi- 
larity between tribes on the east coasts of Asia, and our In- 
dians. Similarities have been found to exist: but it is not 
certain that they may not have been due simply to the fact 
that any two men are apt to acquire similar habits in like 
circumstances, no matter how far they may be separated 
from each other. In other words, mankind has several 
points of common resemblance; and if jou apply a cer- 
tain stimulus to a man, he is apt to I'espond with a certain 
action or state. This explanation is regarded as more plausi- 
ble than to suppose extensive immigrations, and the preser- 
vation of customs. But the fact that the faces of some of 
our Indians bear a likeness to Asiatic peoples on the eastern 
Pacific coasts is not so easily accounted for ; and again there 
is good ground for the belief that the Esquimaux are the 
same race as the prehistoric Cave-men of Europe. The 
Cave-men had the habit Di carving on the tusks of certain 
animals figures and designs of a lifelike and energetic char- 
acter; and the Esquimaux have precisely the same faculty, 
and are the only people extant who do have it. This would 
iudic'ate that the Cave-men are ancestors of the Esquimaux 
who have remained practically unchanged since that remote 
era. It would also show, of com'se, that the Cave-men had 
a vast range of habitation, far exceeding that of any modern 
people. Moreover, it is easy for a people to disperse itself 



ONCE UPON A TIME 17 

over the face of the earth nowadays ; but in the Cave-man 
age there were no ships or railways, and it might take 
thousands of generations for a journey from England, for 
instance, to Greenland. We might almost conclude that 
Cave-men were, in their period, the sole representatives of 
the human race on this planet. But even this would not 
help us out of our American difficulty, since the red Indian 
and the Esquimaux are not the same stock. Ethnologists 
are seldom wholly discomfited, however; and when asked 
how it can be maintained that an Algonquin Indian from 
Maine is of the same race as an Aztec or Peruvian Indian, 
he escapes from the snare by pointing out that all becomes 
reasonable if we do but enlarge our definition of the word 
"race." Make it inclusive enough, and it will include all 
Indians found on this continent. This is true; yet it is not 
entirely conclusive as to the matter under discussion. The 
difference between a Piruan and a Mohawk, great though 
it be, maij not be too great to have been accomplished by 
gradual modifications taking place within the boundaries of 
a common racehood ; but to concede that is not to say that 
they were so accomplished ; and it does not touch the other 
question, whether, supposing them to have, been originally 
of the same race, one part of that race may not have re- 
mained in Europe thousands of years after the other had 
emigrated to America; and, when the former followed the 
latter, may not have brought with it a superior culture ac- 
quired in favorable Asiatic or European environment. But 
ethnology, and the movements of races, are sciences still in 
their infancy; and much of what is asserted about such 
matters is, when investigated, shown to be the merest guess- 
work. "When all has been said, we still do not know where 
cur Indians came from, how long they have been here, or 
whether they are of one or several races. Nor can we even 
tell whether they are in the same state of culture now as 
at their first appearance, whether they have advanced, or 
whether they have retrograded. Apposite to this inquiry 
is the subject of the Mounds. 



IS HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

But in order intelHgeutly to approach that subject, we 
should clarity our idejis as to what is meaut by the words 
savagery, barbarism, and civilizatiou, as appUed to progres- 
sive stag"es of huinau culture. Of course the terms ai'e arbi- 
trary. He whom we consider a savage would regard a bar- 
barian as civilized; and we may presume that the meu of a 
thousaud years hence will look upon our present condition 
as bai'barous. Nevertheless, when we are confronted with 
ambiguities of this kind, the best thing we can do is to insti- 
tute a rough-and-ready working system, and get whatever 
practiciil results from it we may. That useful function has 
been discJiarged for us in this case by the late Lewis F. 
Morgan, whose formidas we shall briefly explain, and make 
use of under limitations. 

Mr, Morgan begins by sug-gesting a dividmg line between 
savages and barbarians; and he draws it at the making of 
pots and kettles of clay. His rea^son for this is (as Professor 
Fiske remarks) that the making of pottery presupposes vil- 
lage life and some progress in the simpler arts. Food was 
originally boiled either by putting it in holes in the ground 
lined with skins, or in clay-coated baskets; and Mr. Moi-gan 
supposes that the savage, noticing that the clay not only pre- 
vent^?d liquid from escaping, but was hardened by the fire, 
conceived, in the course of ages, the idea of retaining the 
clay in his vessel and omitting the basket. At that moment, 
imknown to himself, he ceased to be a savage and became a 
barbarian. A barbarian, then, is an uncivilized person who 
makes vessels of clay. 

And when" does the barbai-ian become civilized'? When, 
according to Mr. Morgan, he invents a phonetic alphabet and 
keeps written records. No matter how high his physical or- 
ganization may be, how delicately perceptive his brain, how 
comfortable his gvneral condition, he is not civilized until he 
finds out how to write and how to make libraries. And no 
doubt Mr. Morgan has fair warrant for his rule. Writing 
seems very easy after it has been invented; it is the first 
tiling we teach our children in school, and that child is held 



ONCE UPON A TIME 19 

very stupid wto has not mastered the alphabet. But when, 
in maturer years, we have reviewed the whole process by 
which men arrived at the conception of representing ideas 
by marks on skins or other substances, we begin to acquire 
a respect for the familiar row of letters. First there was the 
observation of objects; then, the attempt to reproduce them 
by drawing; then, the conventionalization of certain of these 
drawings — short-hand sketches, so to say, of horses, birds, 
trees and so forth. Even then our inventor was a long way 
from giving these marks a phonetic value, and combining 
them in words. It required a .faculty of abstract thinldng 
which belongs to man exclusively, and only to man after a 
very long apprenticeship and drilling. He must have sat 
still and used his mind vigorously for a long while before 
he hit the true conception. Cadmus, whoever he was, de- 
serves all the credit that has been awarded to hira ; and not 
every "professor" o£ the present day is intellectually capable 
of achieving a parallel feat. 

But it is not merely the invention of phonetic writing that 
entitles the man to be called civilized ; it is the effect of the 
invention upon his condition. For he now becomes able to 
rise above his individual powers, and to avail himself of all 
the accumulated and aggregated attainments of his race and 
ancestry. He can refer to records, showing what has been 
done and thought ; and he can stand on these and reach for- 
ward to further exploits. His single brain is reinforced 
with the brains of all his predecessors and contemporaries. 
Thus his power is indefinitely multiplied; and he in turn 
hands down this multiplied faculty and result to his pos- 
terity. Nature, instead of being his master, begins now 
to obey him and to become plastic to his thought; the arts 
and sciences commence; machinery appears, and, in due 
course, the Nineteenth Century American. 

Beyond a doubt, letters are the beginning of material 
progress. At all events, we know nothing of any marked 
material prosperity in the past without letters. Of course, 
we are free to deny the identity of material prosperity and 
— 2 



20 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

true civilization. This, again, is a matter of terms. Homer 
was the greatest of poets, and letters had not been invented 
when he sang — at least, in Greece, Literature augments 
the power of the race, and its wealth ; but it may tend to 
diminish the individual. The faculty of memory is far from 
being as highly developed as it used to be. Books take the 
place of thought in a degree, and in other ways impair our 
independence. Only a minute fraction of what is written is 
worth reading; much is directly injurious, or wasteful. Men 
are not happier for their wealth; and the discrepancy be- 
tween poor and rich disturbs society. Yet, upon the whole, 
the path of the race seems to be upward ; and it must lie 
through material prosperity. Not until we have completed 
the conquest of nature can we turn our attention to breath- 
ing a soul into this accumulation of dead things, and so per- 
haps learn the secret of a new and freer dominion over them. 

But Mr. Morgan goes further than the fixing of the dis- 
tinction between savage, barbarian and civilized. There must 
needs be subdivisions, in order to render the masses less un- 
wieldy. Accordingly, he specifies three grades of savagery, 
and three of barbarism. In the lowest savage state man had 
just begun to talk, but had not jet discovered how to fish or 
hunt; he lived on berries, fruits, and raw roots. In this state 
he could not venture far from the place of his nativity, lest 
he be cut off from his soiu'ce of supplies. But the art of 
fishing, and the discovery of fire, brought him to the second 
savage state, and gave him courage to wander along coasts 
or river banks, and thus to overspread the earth. Finally, 
our savage hits upon the really masterly device of the bow 
and arrow: suggested, it maybe, by the snapping back of 
branches as he passed through the forest : but, at any rate, 
evincing the faculty of following out a chain of reasoning. 
He is now a graduate of savagery, and ready to enter upon 
his first course of barbarism. 

This, as we have seen, begins with pottery. From this 
he goes on to the taming of animals, and thus enables him- 
self to live without hunting, and consequently in much more 



ONCE UPON A TIME 21 

i'estricted quarters than formerly. This pastoral state was 
omitted in America ; but, on the other hand, the cultivation 
of Indian corn, or maize, took its place in a measure, and 
inasmuch as it could be raised without first clearing and 
plowing the ground, obviated the need for spad^, plowsj 
hoes and rakes, which eastern barbarians required for their 
crops of wheat. Here, then, we find the spontaneous bounty 
of nature placing man at an advantage which, otherwise, 
he could have gained only by dint of many ages of intel- 
lectual training. Indian corn made Indian villages pos- 
sible; and Indian villages, with their wigwams, were the 
beginning, according to Mr. Morgan, of Indian. Mounds, 
and Mexican pueblos and * 'cities." 

All this sounds probable and rational, and there are no 
good grounds for rejecting it. Nearly all the stages of sav- 
agery and barbarism which Mr. Morgan instances in hm 
analysis are at present in existence in one or another part 
of the world : only the very lowest has to be supplied by 
inference. And provided we bear it in mind tbat the dis- 
tinctions are inevitably arbitrary, and that there are no 
known cases of me^ caught in the act of passing from one 
grade of culture to a higher one, we shaU find the system 
useful, and tending to clarify materially the subjects with 
which we have to deal. We know that the civilized man 
progresses, and why should not the savage and the barbarian? 

The methods of. the cultivation of Indian corn were 
improved in the more southern parts of North America, 
coincidently with the increasing pressure of population, 
irrigation being introduced where rainfall was deficient. 
Indian corn was the staple as far south as Central Amer- 
ica; in Peru, the potato, indigenous there, suppHed its place. 
In the higher grades of American barbarism, houses were 
made of adobe and stone ; weapons and tools were wrought 
of stone finely chipped or polished, and in some cases of cop- 
per; but iron was never smelted in the western hemisphere. 
Consequently Mr. Morgan places the Aztecs and Incas at the 



22 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

time of the Spanish conquest lower iu the scale of culture 
than the Greeks at the period of Homer, and the Germans 
in Civsar's age. But since, if we adhere strictly to his sys- 
tem, we must deny civilization to the Egyptians, on the 
-ground that they had no phonetic alphabet — which would 
be a manifest absurdity — it is plain that all these distinc- 
tions should be taken with reservations, and only used to 
avoid confusion. "It will be observed," says Professor 
Fiske, "that, with one exception, these restrictions leave 
the area of civilization as wide as that which we are ac- 
customed to assign to it in our ordinary speaking and think- 
ing. That exception is the case of Mexico, Central America, 
and Peru. We have been so long accustomed to gorgeous 
accounts of the civilization of these countries at the time of 
their discovery by the Spaniards that it may at tii-st shock 
our preconceived notions to see them set down as in the 
'middle state of barbarism,' one stage higher than the Mo- 
hawks, and one stage lower than the warriors of the Iliad. 
This does indeed mark a change since Dr. Draper expressed 
the opinion that the Mexicans and Peruvians were morally 
and intellectually superior to the Europeans of the sixteenth 
century. The reaction from the state of opinion in which 
such an extravagant remark was even possible has been at- 
tended with some controversy; but on the whole Mr. Mor- 
gan's main position has been steadily and rapidly gaining 
ground, and it is becoming more and more clear that if we 
are to use language correctly when we speak of the civiliza- 
tions of Mexico and Peru, we really mean civilizations of an 
extremely archaic type, considerably more archaic than that 
of Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. A 'civilization' like 
that of the Aztecs, without domestic animals or iron tools, 
with trade still in the primitive stage of barter, with hmnan 
sacrifices, and with cannibalism, ha^ certainly some of the 
most vivid features of barbarism. Along with "these primi- 
tive features, however, there seem to have been — after mak- 
ing all due allowances — some features of luxury and splendor 
such as we are wont to associate with civilization. The 



ONCE UPON A TIME 23 

Aztecs, moreover, though doubtless a full ethnical ' period 
behind the ancient Egyptians in general advancement, had 
worked out a system of hieroglyphic writing, and had begun 
to put it to some literary use. It wouid seem that a people 
may in certain special points reach a level of attainment 
higher than the level which they occupy on other points. 
The Cave-men of the Glacial period were ignorant of pot- 
tery, and thus had not risen above the upper status of 
savagery; but their artistic talent, upon which we have 
remarked, was not such as we are wont to associate with 
savagery. Other instances will occur to us in the proper 
place," The fact is — ^if Professor Fiske's infatuation with 
the letter of evolution would but permit him to see it — that 
Mr. Morgan's theory is not a true theory at all, but only a. 
working hypothesis, good until we discover a closer approxi- 
mation. We cannot argue from men in prehistoric Europe 
to men in prehistoric America, or affirm dogmatically that, 
in all that goes to make a man, an ancient Peruvian or 
Aztecan was not the peer of an ancient Egyptian or Greek. 
They did not do quite the same things in the same way, nor 
employ the same materials or instruments; but they were 
never under any obligations to conform to Mr. Morgan's 
rules. Even Professor Fiske is constrained to acknowledge 
that in certain parts of ancient America, barbarism "cep.ses 
to appear otherwise than respectable." 

The social institutions of our Indians merit some notice; 
the most remarkable feature being the general observance 
of what is called the "mother-right" — that is, the system of 
kinship through mothers only, instead of through the fathers. 
This mother-right is said to have, everywhere throughout the 
world, so far as is known, preceded the patriarchal idea ; in- 
deed, it is surmised that the latter has been attained by the 
highest races only. The conception of monogamy, and of 
indissoluble marriage, would seem to be of modern growth. 
In the original state of man, we are told, the family was 
indiscoverable, and men hved in hordes like cattle. From 
this, cases of individual pairing-off occurred, until at length 



S4 HISTORY OF SPA>*ISH AMERICA 

the gens or kin was recognizable; a group of males and 
females traditionally conscious of their common descent in 
the female line. The men of a clan were forbidden to marry 
inside their clan; they must practice ''exogamy.'' The clan 
persisted even after descent from the father was estabhshed ; 
and a grv>np of clans constituted a '"phratry." which, again, 
were combined in tribes. These primitive societies had small 
conception of personal property and knew nothing of real 
estate ; land being merely occupied by the tribe : but grad- 
ually, as the tribe became more nearly stationary, property 
was accumulated by individuals, and as a consequence po- 
lygamy and monogamy began, and the mother-right fell 
into desuetude. But this stfite of things had not been es- 
tablished in America at the period of the conquest; there 
might be patriarchal instances, but the mother-right was 
maintained coinoidently. The marriage contract could be 
dissolved at the will of either party to it. The social unit 
was not the family but still the clan. And it is thought to 
be owing to this fact that the architecture of the American 
building Indians a^umed the character that it did. 

They built their houses to fit their way of living. This 
way was communal, and all their buildings, in principle, are 
adapted to the communal system. From the lowest style of 
savage huts to the wonderful sculptured ruins of Tuciitan, 
the principal is the same. In the "' long-houses" of certain 
25'orth American tribes, the edifice was a structure of poles 
fixed upright in the ground, with a gabled roof of rafters 
shingled with. bark. The house would be as much as a 
hundred feet in length, with an opening at each end; and 
within, compartments eight feet in width opened like stalls 
upon the central passage. In this passage fire-pits were 
made at regular intervals: bunks were fixed against the 
walls of the compartments; corn hung from the ridge-pole; 
and each house was occupied by related families. The prod- 
ucts raised by any member of the household "were common 
property; matrons presided over the establishment. Chil- 
dren were in common, as well as food; the voting wife 



ONCE UPON A TDIE -^5 

brought her husband home with her, and she might exile 
him thence if he proved lazy and unprofitable. The head 
of the clan was the sachem, elected by the clan from among 
its number; he could be succeeded by a brother but not by 
a son, and could be deposed upon occasion ; the chiefs were 
war captains, there being one for each fifty members or 
thereabout; in a tribe, there might be from three to up- 
ward of twenty clans, massed in phratries. There were clan 
councils, from which women were not debarred. Tribes were 
distinguished by an exclusive dialect ; their government was 
vested in a c-ouncil of chiefs and sachems ; sometime there 
was a head-chief of a number of tribes, elected by the coun- 
cil. In Europe such head-chiefs ultimately developed into 
kings; but there was nothing exactly answering to the Euro- 
pean idea of a king in America. Beyond the tribe, or a con- 
federation of tribes, the American social structure did not 
go; the modern civilized conception of a nation was never 
fully attained. But the distinction between a nation and a 
permanent confederation of tribes is not at firsG sight very 
apparent. In the north, the League of the Iroquois was the 
most conspicaous example; it entailed the imposition of trib- 
ute, but did not result as in the Old World in the fusing of 
peoples of different degrees of development. The basis of all 
combinations was the clan of a common maternal ancestry. 

The next advance in architecture above the long-house 
is the circular house of the Mandans. It was forty to sixty 
feet in diameter, with a conical roof, in the centre of which 
was the opening for the escape of smoke; the only other 
opening was a door in the side. The family compartments 
were of triangular shape, with apexes toward the central 
fire. A village might contain thirty or more such houses; 
they were built on easily defensible sites, and surrounded 
by palisades and bastions. There was also in the village 
a medicine-lodge or council-house, and an open space for 
games and dances. 

The next step is to the Mayas and Peruvians of Yucatan 
and Peru, and the Toltecs and Aztecans of the Mexican pla- 



26 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

teaii. We find clay walls supporteii by wooden frames, as 
in the primitive basket* coated with clay already lueutioued. 
These were improved by thickening the clay wall and remov- 
ing tJie supertluous framework. Thus we get the t-erraeed 
pueblo walls of the Zunis, and more southern tribes. After- 
ward rubble-st<me was embedded in the adobe, and finally 
limestone was shaped with flint chisels and laid in courses 
with adobe mortal*. 

The typical pueblo is a solid block of buildings surround- 
ing three sides of a square: the inner side is lowest, whence 
it ascends by terraces to five or six stories on the outside. 
On the fourth side of the rectangle is a one-story block of 
apartment* with one or two narrow gatewa\'s. constituting 
the only entrances. Access to the various apartments was 
gained through Skylights reached by portable ladders. Such 
a structure, accommodating sometimes as many as five thou- 
Siiud persons, might be called a fortress town : or we might 
compare it with one of our huge modern flat-houses or tene- 
ments. The pueblo Indians were, like their less advanced 
brethren, organized in clans, with descent in the female line. 
They were governed by a council of sachems, with a princi- 
pal sachem known as cacique. The priesthood was organ- 
ized, and observed an elaborate ceremonial; each pueblo had 
ts estufa or council-house for religious as well as govern- 
mental trausiictious. These Indians were advanced in their 
mythology and picture-writing above their fellows to the 
north. 

The pueblos varied somewhat in form, though always 
constructed on the same principle; the much-discussed cliff- 
dwellings are pueblos adapted to peculiar local conditions. 
The pueblo at Zuni is practically a small town of communal 
houses massed together, with streets and plazas; it much 
impressed the Spaniards, who compared it with the city of 
Granada. But. as a matter-of-fact explorer remarks, Span- 
ish conquerors were more emotional than statistical. They 
magnified the importance of their acquisitions, because they 
had acquired them. They estimated the population of a 



ONCE UPON A TIME 27 

Mexican pueblo town at two hundred thousand, for exam- 
ple, when sober truth should have been content with one- 
sixth as many. On the other hand, the Aztecans made their 
stone buildings at least as massive as those of Spain, and 
the Spaniards' admiration of this feature was well deserved. 
But they were again astray in their interpretation of Aztecan 
society, mistaking war-chiefs for emperors and communal 
houses for palaces. They foresaw nothing of Mr. Morgan 
and the evolutionists, and fancied that the assembled tribes 
were organized nations. Between European feudalism and 
Aztecan gentilism the discrepancy was great, but not out- 
wardly obvious. It was the discrepancy between territorial 
and personal ownership of property, or organization. No 
American tribes had taken the step from the latter to the 
former. What the Spaniards took to be the empire of Mon- 
tezuma, therefore, was in fact a confederacy of tribes living 
in pueblos, governed by a council of chiefs, and exacting 
tribute from their neighbors. It did not attempt a military 
occupation of the country, but its chiefs were sent out peri- 
odically to collect the tribute, and if it was not paid, the 
recalcitrant pueblo was destroyed, and its inmates taken 
captive, and most of them sacrificed and often eaten. 

Mexico City was the Aztecan headquarters, and the four 
phratries of the great tribe divided it into four quarters. 
In each quarter was an arsenal, supplied with weapons. 
The supreme power in the tribe was exercised by ttie twenty 
members of the council, assembling every ten days or oftener ; 
and every three months a sort of senate of older men was 
convened to reconsider disputed decisions of the council — 
which last, however, could always enforce its will in the 
last resort. The civil sachem was lieutenant to the head 
war-chief or "chief -of -men," who, about half a century be- 
fore the arrival of the Spaniards, was made supreme military 
commander of the confederated tribes. Had it not been for 
the civil sachem, who retained the functions of, magistrate, 
and but for the fact that he had no landlord powers, for the 
reason that there could be no landlordship in Mexico, the 



vb HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

chief -of -men would have been king indeed ; and in addition 
to liis leadership in war, he exercised priestlj functions. 
His office, though elective, was restricted to the members 
of one clan, and some principle of succession seems to have 
been observed ; but he could be deposed, Hke all other Indian 
officials, for cause. 

Upon the whole, the most advanced advocates of Aztecan 
barbarism, as against civilization, admit that they were "a 
full ethnic period'' ahead of the northern Indians of the con- 
tinent. There were regular roads through the province, and 
markets were periodically held for the exchange of produce. 
Instead of being wantonly tortured to death, captives were 
sacrificed with due ceremony to the gods. Slavery, which 
is regarded as an evidence of appi-oximate civilization, had 
. onmienced among the Aztecs. The Aztec clan was exoga- 
moiis, but descent in the male line was recognized, and fam- 
ilies had come into existence: the wife was the husband's 
property. There was a visible comprehension of the right 
of private ownei'ship, the outcome of trade. A kind of paper 
made of maguey was manufactured, upon which picture- 
■\\Titing was done; and though this writing has remained 
undecipherable, that does not prevent it« claim to be a sort 
of literatiure. The city itself was beautiful and luxurious ; 
"pleasure gardens, menageries and aviaries, foimtains and 
baths, tessellated marble floors, finely wrought pottery, ex- 
quisite feather-work, brilliant mats and tapestries, salver 
goblets, dainty spices burning in golden censers, varieties 
of highly-seasoned dishes, dramatic performances, jugglers 
and acrobats, ballad-sing-ers and dancing-girls — such things 
were to be seen in this city of snake-woi*shipping cannibals. 
It simulated civilization as a tree-fern simulates a tree." 
Such is Professor Fiske's conclusion, after due study of 
Morgan axid Bandelier. It may be remarked that a tree- 
fern is verj'" like a tree; and that the difference between a 
people in the "middle period of barbarism" and in the early 
stage of ci'V'ilization might not unfairly be corapai*ed, for the 
most part, to the famous one between Tweedle-dum and 



ONCE UPON A TIME 29 

Tweedle-dee. Or shall we simply say, once more, that 
America and Europe developed along somewhat different 
lines, each showing features that were not found in the 
other? 

Concerning the ruins of vast so-called cities in the forests 
of Yucatan and the Isthmus, we can speak only from infer- 
ence and conjecture. It has been assumed that these were of 
a piece with the ancient city of Mexico, and might belong to 
about the same date. They were the work of the Mayas, or of 
the Toltecs (if the latter people really existed), and the Mayas 
and the Aztecs in many points were alike, though the former 
seem superior in several respects. Their system of writing 
differed from the Aztecan, and is regarded by experts as 
better than that of the Assyrians at their best. Their im- 
mense buildings have been called palaces, and have been 
supposed to be remnants of cities; but their similarity to 
pueblos cannot be denied, and they may, themselves, have 
been all the cities there were. That they belong to a very 
remote antiquity cannot be proved, though the present races 
profess to know nothing of their origin; this is negative 
testimony, but, on the other hand, the inscriptions on their 
walls seem to be in the same characters as those found in 
extant maguey writings. Stress was laid upon the great 
age of the mahogany trees found growing within them, 
which was figured at two thousand years ; but it was dis- 
covered that the rings of trees in this region are produced 
at the rate of one a month, instead of one a year. The 
Maya builders did not know the secret of the arch; their 
walls are filled with mortar and small stones, and the slabs 
themselves are of a stone originally soft, so as to be readily 
cut with flint chisels. It is possible, therefore, that these 
great ruins may not be over seven hundred years old. 

And yet the opinions of men like Mr. Byron Gordon, who 
has been one of the most thorough explorers of these ambig- 
uous ruins, are entitled to great weight. He regards the 
Mayas and the Aztecs as having had an entirely separate 
political existence, with radical differences in language and 



30 HISTORY OF SPANISH A3IERICA 

customs, tliLnig:h their legends seem to show a eommuuity 
of origin in some iudefinitelv remote past. H© calls the 
Maya ''civilization" much the older of the two. **Centm*ie9 
before the kingdom of the Moutezumas the curtain had 
already fjillen on j\nother empire's career. At tiie time of 
the conquest a numlier of tribes still haimted the vicinitr 
of the desejted cities; they called themselves Ma^-a people; 
they doubtless had traditions, some of which have been 
handed down by the early missionaries, but perverted by the 
efforts t-o interpret them in the Ught of the Holy Scriptures, 
Full of tlie fancies and imagery of the Eixst> those who im- 
dertook to teach the Indians were unable to comprehend a 
traditional knowletige of institutions moi-e advanced, and 
an intelligence far more libei'al than our own." — It will be 
noted that Mr. Gk>rdon has not tJie fear of the evolutionists 
before his eyes. 

He goes on to speak of the books of the M^^as, consist- 
ing of long strips of pap^* made from the maguey fibre, and 
folded after the manner of a screen so as to form pages about 
nine by five inch^ corered with hiero^yphic characters 
neatly drawn in brilliant colors by hand. Boai"ds were fast- 
ened on the outside pages, making the book look like a large 
oct-avo Tolimie. *'This system is entirely distinct from the 
picture-writing of the Aztecs; it was a highly developed 
system, and embraced a number of phonetic elements. Le- 
gend ascribss the invention of these charactered to Itzamna, 
the Maya Cadmus, who led his people from the East across 
the sea. Although nothing has yet been found which enables 
any man to decipher a single inscription, there is ground for 
hope in the future. Not only were the Mayas literary, but 
they attained proficiency in the use of figui'es. They counted 
by units and scores." Their chronological scheme embraced 
two counter: tbe base of one was the astronomical year of 
three hundred and sixty-five days, beginning on the day 
of the transit of the sun by the zenith, and divideil into 
eighteen months of twenty days each ; and they added the 
five days to complete the s^^lnr vear at the t»id of the las* 



O^sX'E UPON A TIME 31 

montli. The years were arranged in twenty-year cycles, 
called Katunes, of which thirteen made a king katun. In 
religious matters, however, the Mayas adhered to an older 
system, a ceremonial year of two hundred and sixty days, 
derived from mythical notions. Attempts to reconcile these 
two time-counts led to the development of a capable system 
of mathematics." 

Speaking of the ruins of Co-pan, Mr. Gordon says that 
the city is more ancient than Palenque in Chiapas, and was 
probably the earher home of the Maya race. Situated ill 
a beautiful and rarely visited valley of Honduras, Co-pan 
is one of the greatest of mysteries. "Here are the remains 
of a city as remarkable as any of the ancient centres of .civ- 
ilization in the Old World. The area comprised within the 
old city limits comprises about eight miles in length by two 
in width. This plain is covered with the remains of stone 
houses, doubtless the habitations of the wealthy. The 
streets, squares and courtyards were paved with stone, or 
with white cement, and drainage was accomplished by cov- 
ered canals and underground sewers of stone and cement. 
On the slopes of the mountains are found innumerable ruins, 
and even on the highest mountain peaks are fallen columns 
and ruined structures. But on the right bank of the Co-pan 
River, in the midst of the city, stands the principal group 
of structures — the temples, palaces, and buildings of a public 
character. A vast, irregular pile rises from the plain in 
steps and terr^aces of masonry, and terminating in several 
pyramidal elevations, each topped by the remains of a tem- 
ple. Unlike the Egyptian pyramids, this is not the embodi- 
ment of a definite idea, built on a preconceived plan for a 
specific purpose, but is the complex result of a long process 
of development, corresponding to the growth of culture. Its 
sides face the four cardinal points ; its greatest length from 
north to south is about eight hundred feet, and nearly as 
much from west to east. But the swift current of the river 
has carried away part of this side, exposing the interior in 
the form of a cliff one hundred and twenty feet high, pre- 



3r3 HISTx>EY OF SPANISH AMEKICA 

senting a eomplioated system of buried walls and floors down 
to the water's edge — doubtless the remains of older buildings, 
abandoned to serve as foundations for later structures. Ex- 
cavations have iilso brought to light, beneath the f oundtitions 
of buildings now ooeupying the surface, tilled chambei'S and 
broken walls of older structures, and sculptured monuments. 
There is just enough difference between these relics and 
those of later date to indicate a change in style and treat- 
ment. Lower still I am inclined to expect that the rude 
beginnings from which sprang the later culture will be 
found, showing Co-pan to be the oldest Maya city, and the 
valley to be the cradle of the race. 

''"Within the main structure," continues Mr. Grordon, "at 
an elevation of sixty feet, is a court one hundi-ed and twenty 
feet square. It was entered from the south through a pas- 
sage? thirty feet wide, between two high pyramidal founda- 
tions, each supporting a temple. A thick wall, pierced in 
its centre by a gateway, guanied this passage^ to the south. 
Ranges of steps or seats, as in an amphitheatre, rise to a 
height of twenty feet, built of great blocks of stone neatly 
laid without mortar. In the centre of the western side a 
stairway leads to a broad terrace above the range of seats ; 
in the midst of these stairs the head of a huge dragon faces 
the court, holding in its jaws a colossal himian head. To the 
north of the court stood two magnificent temples, like the 
work of giants. The interior walls were covered with stucco, 
on which figures and scenes were painted; the horizontal 
arch was formed by overlapping stones. The outside was 
pivfusely ornamented with grotesques at every liue." 

Further on Mr. Grordon describes a superb stairway, "In 
the centre, at the base, is a throne or pedestal rising to the 
fifth step and projecting eight feet in front. The design 
upon its face is rich in sculptm-e, made up in part of hand- 
some faces, masks, death-heads, and scrolls, disposed with 
perfect symmetry; but the ensemble is unintelligible. On 
the face of each step of the stairway is a row of hieroglyphics 
runninir the entire lenorth. At intervals the centre is occu- 



ONCE UPON A TIJIE 33 

pied by a human figure of noble appearance, arrayed in 
splendid attire, seated on the steps. On each side was a 
solid balustrade two feet thick, of curious and complicated 
design." 

Mr. Gordon found tombs in strange locations, ''beneath 
the pavement of courtyards and under the floors of houses. 
They consist of small chambers of excellent masonry ; in 
them one and sometimes two interments have been made. 
The bodies had been laid at full length on the floor ; the cere-, 
ments had mouldered away and the skeletons were in a 
crumbling condition. One fact of surpassing interest came 
to light — ^the custom of adorning the front teeth with gems 
inlaid with enamel, and by filling. The stone used in the 
inlaying was a bright green jadeite. A circular cavity oixe- 
sixteenth of an inch in diameter was drilled in the enamel 
of two of the upper front teeth and inlaid with a disk- of 
jadeite, cut to a perfect fit, and secured by a bright red 
cement. Each tomb also contained earthenware vessels oc 
great beauty of form and workmanship, painted with figure 
or glazed. Some contained ashes, others beads, ear-orna- 
ments and other objects, usually of jadeite, sMlf ally polished 
and cut; and pearls and trinkets carved from shell, which 
must have been obtained by trade or journeys to the coast. 
There were also stone knives and flint spear-heads, hatched 
and chisels." 

As to the date when Co-pan was an inhabited city, Mr. 
Oordon can offer no suggestion. It was in ruins, as to-day, 
at the time of the Spanish invasion four hundred years ago, 
and none of the natives could give any account of the people 
who had lived in it, Nor is there any tradition as to the 
means or cause of its destruction. Perhaps the occupants 
were the victims of some fierce war ; perhaps an earthquake 
overthfBW their palaces and destroyed them. At present we 
can only say that it is "a nameless city with an unknown 
story.'* 

These extracts from a work later in date than Professor 
Fiske's "Discovery of America" show that the same facts 



84 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

may be difiPereutly iuterpreted. If these riiins be those of 
barbarians, then barbarians are civiHzed enough for most 
practical purposes. Nevertheless, leaving Co-pan aside, it 
should be stated that the ruined city of Chichen-Itza, which 
has been supposed to be of about the same age as any of 
these mysterious places, is declared, in a document written 
in 1562 by a native of that time, to have been still inhabited 
when the Spaniards came to the country. Great importance 
is attached to this chronicle by the followers of Morgan and 
Bandelier; but it is by no means certain that it can be de- 
pended upon. Collateral evidence is needed ; and meanwhile, 
the mystery is a mystery still. 

We now come round again to the question as to the true 
character of the Mounds which ai-e scattered all over north- 
ern America. They have been industriously studied by many 
investigators, and several theories have been formed and aban- 
doned. At one time the builders were thought to have been 
highly civilized, and to have belonged to a race quite distinct 
from the red men. Their culture has been asserted to have 
been in advance of our own, and their empire to have ex- 
tended over the greater part of the continent. But, says 
Professor Fiske, with sturdy incredulity, ''the sooner the 
student of history gets his head cleared of such rubbish, 
the better. As for the mounds, there are some which have 
been built by Indians since the arrival of white men in 
America, and which contain knives and trinkets of Euro- 
pean manufacture. There are many others which are much 
older, and in which the genuine remains sometimes indicate 
a culture like that of the Shawnees or Senecas, and some- 
times suggest something perhaps a httle higher. "With the 
progress of research the vast and vague notions of a distinct 
race of Mound-Builders became narrowed and defined. It 
began to seem probable that the builders of the more remark- 
able mounds were tribes of Indians who had advanced beyond 
the average level in horticultm-e, and consequently in density 
of population, and perhaps in priestly and political organiza- 
tion. Such a conclusion seemed to be supported by the size 



ONCE UPON A TBIE 35 

of some of the ancient garden beds, often covering more than 
a hundred acres, filled with the low parallel ridges in which 
corn was planted. The mound people were thus supposed to 
be semi-civilized red men, like the Aztecs, and some of their 
elevated earthworks were explained as places for human sacri- 
fice, like the pyramids of Mexico and Central America. It 
was thought that the 'civilization' of the Cordilleran peo- 
ples might formerly have extended northward and eastward 
into the Mississippi Valley, and might after a while have been 
pushed back by powerful hordes of more barbarous invaders. 
A further reduction and modification of the theory likened 
the mound- builders to the pueblo Indians of New Mexico. 
Such was the opinion of Mr. Morgan, who offered a very 
ingenious explanation of the extensive earthworks at High 
Bank, in Ross County, Ohio, as the fortified site of a pueblo. 
Although there is no reason for supposing that the mound- 
builders practiced irrigation (which would not be required in 
the Mississippi Valley) or used adobe-brick, yet Mr. Morgan 
was inclined to admit them to his middle status of barbarism 
because of the copper hatchets and chisels found in some of 
the mounds, and because of the superiority in horticulture 
and the increased reliance on it. He suggested that a peo- 
ple somewhat like the Zunis might have migrated eastward 
and modified their building habits to suit the altered condi- 
tions of the Mississippi Valley, where they dwelt for several 
centuries, until at last, for some unknown reason, they re- 
tired to the Rock}^ Mountain region. It seems to me," says 
our Professor, "that an opinion just the reverse of Mr. Mor- 
gan's would be more easily defensible — namely, that the an- 
cestors of the pueblo Indians were a people of building habits 
somewhat similar to the Mandans, and that their habits be- 
came modified in adaptation to a country which demanded 
careful irrigation and supplied adobe clay in abundance. K 
ever they built any of the mounds in the Mississippi Valley, 
I should be disposed to place their mound-building period 
before the pueblo period. Recent researches, however, make 
it more and more improbable that the mound-builders were 



35 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

nearly akin to suoli people as the Zunis or similar to them 
in grade of culture. Of late vears the exploration of the 
mounds has" been carried on with increasing diligence. . . . 
The net results of all this investigation have been concisely 
summed up by Dr. Cyrus Thomas. The mounds were not 
all built by one people, but by different tribes as clearly dis- 
tinguishable from one another j\s Algouquins tuv distinguish- 
able from Iroquois. These mound-building tril>es "u-ere not 
superior in culture to the Iroquois and many of the Algon- 
quins as first seen by white men. They are not to l>e classi- 
fied with the Zunis, still less with the Me>dcans or Mayas, 
in point of culture, but with Shawnees and Cherokees. The 
Cherokees wei-e probably the builders of the mounds of east- 
ern Tennessee and western Xorth Carolina. They retained 
their mound-building habits some time after the white men 
came upon the scene. On the other hand, the mounds and 
box-shaped stone graves of Kentucky, Tennessee and north- 
ern Georgia were probably the work of Shawnees, and the 
stone graves in the Pelawiire Valley are to be ascribed to 
the Lenape. ... If this view, which is steadily gaining 
ground, be correct, our imaginitry race of 'Mound-Builders' 
is broken up and vanishes, and henceforth we may content 
ourselves with speaking of the authors of the ctncient eai'th- 
works as 'Indians.* There were times in the career of sun- 
dry Indian tribes when circumstances induced them to erect 
mounds as sites for communal houses or council houses, medi- 
cine lodges or burial places ; somewhat as there was a period 
in the history of our own forefathers in England when cir- 
eunisr^^nces led. them to build moated castles with draw- 
bridges and portcullis; and there is no more occasion for 
assuming a mysterious race of 'Mound-Builders' in America 
them for assuming a mysterious race of 'Castle-Builders' in 
England.'' 

Thus delivers himself the scornful and even vehement 
Professor. But we may observe that historians, and men 
of science generally, are apt to be vehement and scornful 
just in proportion as they find themselves on an insecure 



ONCE UPON A TIME 37 

footing. We have just as much right to reject the Pro- 
fessor's conclusions as to accept them. He does not get 
above inference and conjecture. And when he Hkens the 
communal-house period of his Indians to the castle-building 
period of England, he gets manifestly off the track. He 
does not need to be told that the Indians are the most con- 
servative and unadaptable of beings, whereas a people in the 
first stages of civilization are just the reverse. Nothing is 
less probable, on the face of it, than that the builders of the 
mounds ever ceased building them, so long as they them- 
selves continued to exist. And if they have disappeared, 
who were they, and what caused their disappearance? The 
question is still unanswered. 

We have still to investigate the prehistoric conditions in 
Peru and other parts of South America; but before doing 
this, we will take a survey of the situation in the Old World 
which led up to the discovery of the New ; and then follow 
the Spaniards from Central America southward. We emerge, 
consequently, from the epoch of "Once upon a time," and 
come into the definite light of accepted historj. 



38 HISTORY OF SPAXESH A3IERICA 



II 

THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 

BETWEEI^T the western coasts of Europe and the east- 
em shores of America intervene but some two or 
three thousand miles at most of salt water; and 
toward the north the approach is much closer. The leap 
across Bering Straits on the other side of the American con- 
tinent is to be spanned in a day's boating. The sea is an 
easy path : do" but spread a sail and fix a rudder, and go 
ahead : you cannot help arriving ere long. Such being the 
case, how was it possible that Europe could avoid discover- 
ing America in the course of the thousands of years of re- 
corded history? How could these millions of busy and active 
men on one sde of the globe remain for so many ages unsus- 
picious of the existence of men and broad lands on the other 
;ide of it? The thing seems incredible. 

But facts are facts; and this fact is not without its rea- 
sons. One of the main difficulti^ in the way of our compre- 
hension of what we call ancient history, is that of bearing in 
mind the extent of ancient ignorance of certain things, which, 
to us, are matters of such familiar knowledge that they seem 
next to axiomatic. We move so easily nowadays; the means 
of universal intercommunication are so well perfected; our 
information on all subjects connected with the earth we live 
on is so comprehensive and accurate; our books of history 
and geography are so innumerable, and our acquaintance 
with their contents is so early made, that we scarce can 
conceive of a time when none of these circumstances existed. 
Such a time there was, however, and compared with the his- 
torical period of human history — to say nothing of the actual 
sojourn of our race on this planet — ^it is a time only little re- 
moved from us. Five hundred years ago the mind of Em-ope 



ONCE UPON A TIME 39 

was a total blank regarding many if not most of the things 
which our children now learn in their primary schools. What 
was the shape of the earth, and what its motions? Tell us 
what you know about the nature, orbits, distances and effects 
of the sun and moon, and other bodies in our solar system. 
What is meant by the term gravitation? Is there anything 
on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean? How far east 
does Asia extend? How far south can you sail along the 
west coast of Africa? How far north may you penetrate 
beyond Norway? Assuming the earth to be a sphere (which 
is probably absurd) and that people live on the other side of 
it, how can they remain attached to its surface with their 
feet above them and their heads pointing downward? — and 
how could a mariner, even were he to succeed in sailing- 
down the awful declivity of the globe's side, hope to succeed 
in climbing his way up again? What do you know about the 
bottomless abysses into which the ocean is credibly believed 
to discharge itself beyond the horizon?— These, and a vast 
number of similar questions, might have been asked of men 
reputed wise in the fifteenth century, without ehciting replies 
which contemporary school children could hear without un- 
seemly laughter. One of the best informed of these wise 
men, Claudius Ptolemy by name, thought he knew as much 
as would ever be known about the earth, and in support of his 
claim made a map of it (about 150 a.d.) which was the stan- 
dard of geographical knowledge, or surmise, until the time 
of Columbus, thirteen hundred years later. Ptolemy plotted 
down a very respectable plan of Europe, the northern parts 
of Africa, with the Red Sea and Arabia, and by dint of 
combining vague reports with a creative imagination, he 
sketched out a not entirely discreditable portrait of Russia 
and Asia, even beyond the Ganges. He, however, boldly 
amputated the great peninsula of India, which has since 
then given England so much trouble and renown, and enor- 
mously exaggerated the size and importance of the island of 
Ceylon. His efforts to realize China, which was described 
m doubtful legends as Sinae and as Seres (the former title 



40 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

being supposed to refer to the Tcliin dynasty, which at 
Ptolemy's period governed China), were not very success- 
ful; all that was really known of it was that silks came 
from there. But Ptolemy did have the credit of regarding 
the earth as spherical ; a view which was not indorsed by 
his geographical successor, four or five hundred years after- 
ward, the monk Cosmas. Cosmas held that the earth was 
a rectangle, its four sides being enclosed by blue walls, sup- 
porting a domed roof in or above which Hved the Creator and 
his angels. The parts of the earth which were inhabited lay 
in the central parts of the level floor, with the ocean flowing 
round them, and separating the sons of sinful Adam from 
that Pa,radise whence the latter had been banished for his 
sins. Cosmas, not to be lacking in astronomical furnishings, 
erected a tall mountain toward the north, round which he 
made the sun and stars revolve. All this science he pro- 
fessed to derive from intelligent study of the Holy Script- 
ures; and since the monkish and priestly class ruled the 
mind of Europe during the mediaeval centuries, it was but 
natural that Cosmas's cosmos was currently accepted as the 
correct thing for many generations after the worthy sage had 
had opportunity to correct his errors by personal investi- 
gation. But in spite of his flat-earth theory, Cosmas did 
increase human knowledge as to several of the details of 
the terrestrial floor; he improved the position of China, and 
called it Chinistan, and spoke of the "Brachmans" of India. 
But in the seventh century, the Saracens had their day, and 
interposed a barrier between the extreme east and Europe 
which brought Chinese exploration to a sudden end. All 
trade with the Orient was passed through their hands, and 
up to the tenth century Europe was hemmed in strictly, 
except in the direction of Constantinople, where the great 
commercial empij'e of the Byzantines had its seat. North- 
ern trade routes remained open through this magnificent 
city, which, in the twelfth century, was the headquarters 
of civilization and of Christendom. It was not until the 
Turks, a savage tribe which had been converted to Moham- 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 41 

medanism, came swarming down upon the scene, that this 
gorgeous empire fell. 

Meanwhile, geography made no advances. Being shut 
off to the eastward, whither could it go? Not southward; 
for no one seriously believed that Africa was circumnaviga- 
ble ; and though ships had coasted along its western shores 
for some hundreds of miles, the existence of the Cape of 
Good Hope was not suspected. There was no third alterna- 
tive; for who could imagine that the East might be reached 
by sailing west? Only stupendous gulfs, whirlpools, dark- 
ness and chimeras dire were to be looked for in that direc- 
tion. The Mare Tenebrosum, as the Atlantic was called, 
was a stormy and forbidding barrier, holding out no prom- 
ises; and Europe, ardently desiring to reach the Orient, 
stood facing it with arms vainly outstretched, and "with 
her back to the west," as a modern writer has put it, until 
Colum.bus made his seemingly ridiculous gaess, and got back- 
ing to test its accuracy. 

And yet, there is little doubt that America was discov- 
ered long before Columbus; only, it was discovered without 
kaowing it, and involuntarily. There were stories to the 
effect that the Chinese stumbled upon its western coasts, 
in the persons of certain Buddhist priests who crossed via 
Kamchatka; or perhaps Chinese junks strayed to California 
without knowing what they were domg: These tales belong- 
to the fifth century. Later, we hear of Irish missionaries 
venturing to Iceland, and even further, also in complete 
ignorance of the significance of their exploit; for such lands 
as they may have happened upon were not regarded by them 
as a new western continent, but merely as extreme northern 
islands lying off the western coasts of Europe. Finally, in 
the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Norsemen, who had 
settled Iceland, sailed or drifted to lauds further west which 
they called Vinland, because they found the vine growing 
there ; they built a sort of town on Greenland, and seem to 
have explored as far south as Massachusetts. But all was 
of no avail; nobody heard of the adventure till long after- 



^3 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

ward, and the Norsemau's hold upon the uev* country was 
uot continued. The Greenhmd town was presently aban- 
doned, and the Vinland adventure was forgotten. In no 
just sense of the term was America discovered. In fact, 
Columbus himself did not discover it, except as one might 
say that a traveller, walking toward a distant light through 
a dark night, discovers the fence over which he inadvert- 
ently bi^eaks his shins. He died in the conviction that either 
America was Cathay, or else a string of outMng islands along 
the CatJiay coast. 

With the pre-Columbian voyages, at all events, we have 
nothing to do; if the}' touched tlie continent at all, it was 
far above the latitude of what is known as Spanish America. 
Their chief significance is to show how blind men can be un- 
til the time arrives for their eyes to be opened. A jewel of 
inestimable value is thrust into their very hands ; but they 
are looking tor or thinking of something else, and the}* let 
it drop. Our chief excuse for referring to the Xorse exploits 
here is, that a party of them seems to have penetrated south 
to a place which it is not impossible to conceive may have 
l>een Mexico. They did not stay there; most of the pai-ty 
were killed, and the stories of those who got back were gen- 
erally discredited. They passed into obliWon, until the dis- 
coveries of much later times caused them to be remembered 
and overhauled. It is all shadowy; what degree of reality 
thei*e may have been behind the shadow we shall never 
know. The adventures of the Venetian, Zeno, in the first 
years of the fifteenth century, indicate that he too landed 
on Greenland: but his story was laid away in the rubbish 
of a Venetian attic for over a century, and was only rescued 
thence by a d«^eendant of his after Columbus had made his 
voyage. It was in a dilapidated condition; and the pious 
grandson's attempts to restore the missing portions resulted 
in creating much confusion as to what tlie elder Zeno act- 
ually did accomplish. His "map" is better calculate to 
darken counsel than to enlighten it. 

But even had the geographical knowledge of the pre- 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 43 

Columbian times sufficed to apprise Europe of what lay 
beyond the Atlantic, she was too busy with matters near 
home to pay any heed to the fact. Europe did desire more 
of the Orient during the Dark Ages; but she v/ouid have 
had no use for America, had that country been introduced 
to her. Europe, in those days, was a scene of apparently 
hopeless confusion. The belief was general that the end 
of the world, as foretold in the prophetical writings of the 
Bible, was at hand. It was all Europe could do to hold 
her own against Saracens and other wild barbarian hordes; 
she had no stomach for colonizing. She had no ships to 
voyage withal, and no intellectual curiosity such as might 
result in the undertaking of exploration. Asia, which had 
always been regarded as hostile to the west, had been over- 
run to some extent by Alexander ; but since then it had been 
constantly threatening to return ^the compliment. "When, 
at last, the Moors fastened the grip on Spain, and held the 
Mediterranean in awe, the outlook was dark indeed. Never- 
theless, trade never entirely ceased between Europe and the 
East. And as the twelfth century approached, the grand 
conception of the Crusades was developed by the Pope of 
Rome ; and their effect was in all respects bracing and bene- 
ficial. They compelled the eastern hordes to halt in their 
advance for two hundred years ; but the destruction of Con- 
stantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusaders was an inex- 
cusable playing into the enemy's hands. Then Venice and 
Genoa arose, and their Oriental trade made them wealthy 
and powerful. This prosperity was felt throughout Europe, 
and there was a revival of leai-ning and culture, which was 
stimulated rather than checked by the career of Jenghis 
Khan in the first quarter of the thirteenth century; for the 
Mongolians invited commerce and intercourse, and opened 
China to the west to a degree hitherto unknown. Mission- 
aries and travellers visited the great Khan, and brought the 
news that the world did not end with Cathay, as Ptolemy 
had supposed; but that the latter'a "reedy and impenetrable 
swamps" were resolved into a navigable ocean. Here was 
— 3 



a HIS1\)RY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

the first hint which couhl be of use to the coming Cohimbusj 
if then"' was an vx^oan east of Cathay and west of Europe, 
why might not the two be one imd the same? This infer- 
ence wtiSi not indeed, drawn at that time; but it was liable 
: ^ be seized upon by some one when the right moment came. 
Philosophers might canvtvss it in their studitx^; but it had 
to make the transit from philosophers to Si\ilors: and that 
r^Hjuired tin\e. 

]^[ejinwhiU\ ]\[an*o Polo was to make his journeA-s and 
recite his adventures. The foundation for the^e Avas laid 
in the middle of the thirteenth century, when the bivthers 
N<.H>olo and MatYe«,> Polo, culrivateil Venetians, wandereil 
into the court of Kublai Kl\an and won his favor. They 
visidted him again some yeai*s lat<:^r, taking with them Xo- 
Colo's son Matxw The latter entered the Khan's service, 
and made many journeys in hmds hitherto mikno\^Ti. The 
three Polos did not get home for four and twenty years, 
when they turneil up in a rag-ged and unpromising condi- 
tion, to the outward view, and found themseh'BS forgotten 
by their friends: but after they had rip^vnl open their rags 
and disclosed jewels of fabulous value, they l>ec:une objects 
of i^rofound int^'rest and high honor, mid livetl in wealth 
and cre^lit ever after. Marco had some naval adventures 
after \vt\rd, which result^l in his '^aptivity; but he was set 
free, and occupied his leisure in writing his lxx>k, which has 
since then Iven nmch criticised by unbelievers, but has finally 
taken its place- as a remarfo^bly trustworthy narrative. The 
trouble with Mivrco was, that he knew and told too much: 
the culture of Europe at his epvx4i was not large enough to 
aco<>mnKxlate his iuformativ^n. He was looked ujx^u tv$ a 
yarn-spinner, a successor of Scheheresjule. It was whei>? 
he most truste<l to liis imagination that he wjis most be- 
lieved : and the vvntirmation which he gave to the legends 
of *'Prester John," the alleged great Christian potentate of 
the East, av;\s one of his chief contemporary titles to fame. 
Other travellers followed him. and published their findings 
and theories; and Sir John Mandeville, whoever he may 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 45 

have been, perpetrated his ingenioun and amusing fraud 
upon the credulity of Europe. But in i;iG8 the Chinese 
overthrew the MongoHan dynasty, and with that came 
the end of western invasions of Catliay. 

Out of the mass of strange and conflicting testimony 
which the "open season" had begotten, one fact stood out 
clear — that the eastern shores of Asia were accessible by sea. 
Japan also loomed upon the horizon, and other islands rich 
in spices and costly produce. . And since the Chinese barred 
the overland route to these desirable places, Europe natu- 
rally was set to wondering whether a sea-going route might 
not be practicable. Between the wondering and the at- 
tempting there was a considerable interval; for the idea 
was too novel to be digested at once. But it was an age of 
unbridled license of imagination, and of desperate courage; 
the mere possibility of encountering perils never till now 
conceived of, was allurement enough to some persons; and 
in addition there were the fabulous rewards which success 
seemed to promise. Let us picture to ourselves our own 
state of mind, were an expedition fitting out to voyage to 
Mars, with a fighting chance of getting there. There is no 
stronger magnet to draw men than that of the Unknown. 
To do something— to see something — which has never before 
been done or seen — who can resist that seduction? Even to- 
day, our young adventurers go forth to die on the ice fields 
of the ISTorth and South Poles, or in the mysterious heart of 
savage Africa, or the ghastly plateaux of Thibet and Chinese 
Tartary, and the world follows them with eyes of hope and 
curiosity. But the new Columbus will have problems more 
difficult than these to solve ; as difficult, probably, relatively 
to our vastly superior facilities, as those which the Columbus 
of 1492 encountered with his caravels and his erroneous 
notions as to the true locality of the Indies. 

But the plan of sailing west could not be considered or 
proposed, until the more feasible scheme of attempting the 
circumnavigation of Africa should have been tried. The 
possibility of this had been asserted by some writers of the 



i6 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

old Greek and Roman times. The Atlantic and the Indian 
Oceans were surmised to be connected. But Ptolemy, writ- 
ing later, denied this, and he maintained that Africa ex- 
tended southward indefinitely. Herodotus had a story of 
some Phoenician ships which had in three years sailed down 
the Red Sea, and reappeared at the Pillars of Hercules of 
the Mediterranean. Herodotus himself disbelieved the yarn; 
but it seems now not unlikely that it was true. It did not 
recommend itself as plausible to the men of that age, and 
consequently' produced little or no effect upon men's opin- 
ions or theories. On the other hand, there have been many 
accounts of early voj'ages down the west coast of Africa. 
Cadiz and Lisbon were founded more than a thousand years 
before Chiist, and fishing excursions were pushed thence 
along the African shore. Hanno, the Carthaginian, about 
five hundred years before Christ, sailed as far south as Sierra 
Leone. One philosophical mariner by the name of Eudoxus 
picked up some fragments of a vessel on the east African 
coast, and noted down some words spoken there by the na- 
tives; and later, on the west coast, he heard similar words 
pronounced by the local tribes there. Hence he drew the 
inference that Africa was circumnavigable. This was less 
than a hundred years before onr era. "Whether he proved 
his theor}' by himself performing the voyage, is uncertain. 
A map of the world made at about this time shows Africa 
as an irregular triangle extending not further south than 
about the tenth degree of north latitude, and with a huge, 
sausage-shaped continent or overgrown island lying along 
below it, reaching from the western boundary of Africa to 
the extreme eastern promontory of Asia; to which pureh' 
imaginary region is given the name of Antichthone. The 
advantage of this map was, that it could do no harm, like 
that of Ptolemy, by making men believe that Asia could 
not be reached by water. The land of the Antichthones did 
not bar the way; it only prevented mariners from being 
blown into transcendental regions still further south. This 
huge, ambiguous Antichthone (Anti-Earth) made a deep 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 47 

impression on thinkers and navigators, and they were com- 
ing upon traces of it in the most unhkely places ; now it was 
Ceylon, and anon, at the time of the Vespuccian voyages, it 
might be South America. The map was plastic, and accom- 
modated itself without remonstrance to the most irreconcila- 
ble notions. Meanwhile an apprehension prevailed in some 
quarters that the equator could not be passed without peril 
of being consumed by fire. One writer declared that the 
last safe point southward was just below the Tropic of Can- 
cer. Again, the idea that ships going too far south would 
be saihng down hill, and could never, make their way up 
again, added to the dangers of the route. Thfs theory as- 
sumed that the earth was a cone, standing on its base, 
which, in turn, might stand on anything one pleased; 
but, at all events, no prudent person would venture too 
far in that direction. Besides, the vessels of those days 
afforded no reasonable security to the sailor; they were 
crazy little cockleshells, in which one would be chary of 
crossing an inland sound to-day. They could not hold food 
enough for a prolonged voyage out of sight of land. And 
until the twelfth century after Christ, the compass was not 
known to European sailors; it was communicated to them 
from China, by way of Arabia. It was in the middle of 
the thirteenth century that Roger Bacon showed a visitor a 
needle suspended horizontally, which always pointed toward 
the north star, having been first rubbed against a certain 
black stone. But as this was thought to be black magic, 
sailors were shy of employing it, lest bad spirits lead them 
astray. But these prejudices had mostly been surmounted 
before the beginning of the fourteenth century; and some 
progress had also been made toward calculating latitude. 
Longitude was not so readily determined, and the device 
was employed of first saihng to the parallel of the place of 
destination, and then proceeding straight toward it by dead 
reckoning. But dead reckoning is of course an uncertain 
quantity, and great errors were often made. 

When, early in the fourteenth century, the time came 



48 HISTORY CF SPANISH AMERICA 

for a serious attempt to reach Asia by water, the man to 
attempt it appeared iu the person of a prince of Portugal, 
by the name of Henry, snrnamed the Navigator. He was 
the son of John I. of Portugal, was born in 1391, and flour- 
ished during the golden age of his country. After some 
youthful experience in fighting the Moors, during which 
he gathered some useful geographical data, which led him 
to think that he could get round Africa, enter the Indies in 
the rear of the Moslem, and not only bring therefrom treas- 
ures of earth to enrich his country, but also win to the Chris- 
tian fold the iunnmei'able heathen who were now struggling 
in the darkness of paganism. For the proselytizing spirit 
was rampant in those days, and Europeans had persuaded 
themselves that the motive of Christianizing populations 
outside the realm of the Church would excuse any meth- 
ods which might be emploj'ed to effect that object. "For 
Christ ajid Portugal," or "For Christ and Spain," were 
battle cries which stimulated adventurers quite as much 
(in some cases) as the prospect of gold. Spiritual pride 
and aggrandizement were potent fa'ctors in the history of 
the fifteenth and sixteenth centm-ies; and men's consciences 
permitted wholesale slaughter of infidels, on the plea that 
it was better for them to die at once than to go on piling up 
iniquity by continuing to live unrepentant. A niurderer was 
able to regard himself as an apostle, and if his operations 
were only sweeping enough, he might confidently look for- 
ward to being- canonized by a grateful Church after his 
death. Prince Henry, who was really an enlightened and 
worthy man, was consequently full of energy and enthusi- 
asm in his project, and set to work forthwith to equip 
himself for the adventure. 

He retu'ed from the splendore of the Lisbon court, and 
applied himself to grave studies iu the retreat on the prom- 
ontory of Sagres, in the south of Portugal : a place which 
had been regarded by Classical writers as the limit in that 
direction of the habitable globe. He erected an astronomical 
observatory there, extended the hospitalities of the place to 



THE UNSUSr'ECTING EAST 49 

all the wise men he knew, and there did he remain, faithful 
to his purpose, for the better part of his life; sending forth 
thence expedition after expedition to search for the promised 
land. He had all the money he wanted; and though, for a 
while, the world looked with some doubt upon his efforts, he 
finally began to show results which brought his critics round 
to the position of advocates. 

After rediscovering the Madeiras, he" aimed at Cape 
Bajador, a stormy spot, which had hitherto baffled ex- 
plorers; but in 1435 Captain Gil Eannes succeeded in get- 
ting past it, and pushing a couple of hundred miles beyond. 
The Cape is a few degrees south of the Canaries, and its 
conquest still left a terrible extent of coast to be overcome; 
but the mariners had the advantage of not 'knowing how 
large a job confronted them. Eannes's exploit was the rec- 
ord for some seven years; after which Antonio Gongalves 
went two hundred miles further, and brought back gold and 
slaves. Here, then, was the beginning of the modern slave- 
trade; for Prince Henry was far from regarding the enslav- 
ing of benighted blacks as a crime; on the contrary, how 
could the cause of Christ be better advanced than by bring- 
ing these poor creatures into contact with Christian masters? 
And not only did Prince Henry take this view, but the Pope 
of Rome, and his successors, granted to the Prince all 
heathen lands discovered beyond Bajador Cape. In those 
generous times, people got the earth for little more than the 
asking, if giving it on the part of those who did not own 
it was any guarantee of possession. But Prince Henry de- 
serves all the credit that has been conceded to him. He 
sent out many able seamen, and they brought back good 
measure. Nevertheless, at the time of his death at a good 
age, in 1463, he had not succeeded in getting further than 
had the old Carthaginian Hanno centuries before. But the 
work had received an impetus which led to its prosecution 
long after the Prince had gone to his reward. The Congo 
was reached in 1484, and the Hottentots were discovered 
the year after. As they were far south of the equator, the 



50 HISTORY OF SPAXESH AJEEEICA 

theory of a fierv zone was exploded. But ic also proved that 
Africa was alanmngly large, and fears were entertained 
that it might, after aU. turn out to have no end at all. And 
if this were so, either the Indies must be given up, or some 
third way of reaching them must be discovered. And what 
could this third way be, unless it were the route across the 
Atlantic? 

About 1471, news came to Portugal of a potentate far 
ri^t of Benin, whose badge was a brazen cross. This, it 
as inferred, might be the famous Prester John, "whom 
e last heard of from Marco Polo. Hereupon the Mng o£ 
Portugal sent out two expeditions in opposite directions, ooo 
west, the other east ; Covilham commanding the latter and 
Bartholomew* Dias the former. Covilham, after visiting 
Hindustan, returned by way of Abyssinia — or, rather, ha 
stopped there, and never got any further, but dwelt there 
thirty years, and sent home news now and then concerning 
eastern Africa. Dias, meanwhile, actually passed the Cape 
f Good Hope without being aware of it ; but made land, at 
1.-st, two hundred miles up the east coast, north of it. But 
: this stage of the enterprise he was obliged by the condi- 
gn of his crew to turn back; and tiiere still remained a 
doubt whether Africa had really been sailed round or not. 
Be that as it may, geographical thecffies were overturned; 
and since, among Dias's men, there happened to be a brother 
of Christopher Columbus. Bartholomew by name, we see that 
the way was opened for the discoverer of .America to devd^ 
his mighty scheme. Christopher, in fact, had already been 
trying to enlist support for this scheme ; and now his brother 
^ent to England to talk over Henry Til. into backing it. 
Ihat monarch thought there might be something in it, bat 
delayed about invesdng money on so debatable a contin- 
gency; and before he had made up his mind, events had 
taken the matter out of his hands, and given the glory and 
the empire not to England, but to Spain. Henry Vll. had 
leisure for repentance. llVhat a dijSer^ic place the 2s"ew 
"World would have been, had Englishmen been the first tc 



TKE UNSUSPECTING EAST 51 

land in the West Indies I It has taken four centuries to 
finally oust Spain from the lands she cursed with her pres- 
ence; and yet many years must pass before her former 
colonies are made safe and agreeable for civilized occu- 
pation. 

Columbus is no inevitable a figure in any account of the 
Americas that it is impossible to avoid giving him a some- 
vrhat formal introduction, as he steps on the stage. He has 
had biographers without end, nearly all of whom have also 
been eulogists ; for his misfortunes were for the most part 
confined to his own lifetime, before his biographies began. 
And yet the facts of his life, and the true lines of his char- 
acter have never, perhaps, been fully given ; though the 
opinions concerning these points are not as diverse and ir- 
reconcilable as his actual portraits are, they are wdde enough 
apart to afford us hberty to erect whatever type of figure 
best suits our private predilection. Among those who wrote 
of him with knowledge at first hand were his friend Las 
Casas, himself an admirable character; and his son Ferdi- 
nand, who was also a commendable and certainly a pious 
personage. Better authorities could not be asked; but the 
trouble is that they are chiefly concerned to describe their 
subject after he became famous; whereas we are anxious 
to learn what he was like previous to that period, and, as it 
were, unofficially. The figure of Columbus detaches itself 
from an obscure and doubtful background, at a period of 
life comparatively late; he advances with abruptness into 
the most dazzHng light of history ; and then is eclipsed for- 
ever by shadows of mishap, neglect, and soon of death. Now. 
a man is hardly ever his natural self when he is the most con- 
spicuous person of his day ; and we are not satisfied that the 
Columbus who handed over a new Continent to the Spanish 
king and queen shows quite the same traits as he who had 
fought his way through the world during the previous forty 
or fifty years. At all events, we could see him more clearly 
in his greatness, had we been intimate with him in his ob- 
scurity. — But we must make the best of what we can get. 



52 HISTORY OF SPANISH AIMERICA 

"There is scarcely a date or a fact relating to Columbus be- 
fore 1493," remarks Professor Fiske, who shall be our guide 
through this wilderness, "but has been made the subject 
of hot dispute ; and some pretty wholesale reconstructions of 
his biography have been attempted." 

"Whether the discoverer was born in 1436 or ten years later 
is undetermined. All evidence is of an inferential character. 
The more plausible conclusion is for the earlier date. The 
place in which he was born was either Genoa itself, or some 
village within the boundaries of the Genoese Republic. His 
family followed the trade of weavers. His father, Domenico, 
had three other sons, younger than Christopher, and one 
daughter; Giovanni, the second son, died yoimg; Bartholo- 
mew, the third, was associated with Christopher in his ca- 
reer. The latter and Christopher early removed to Portugal. 
All the family were poor, and the father died, at a great age, 
in debt, seven or eight years after his famous son's discovery 
of what was supposed to be "the Indies." 

Christopher's childhood is a closed book to investigators; 
and the first we know Of him is that he studied at the Uni- 
versity of Pavia, and, like Shakespeare, got some Latin. He 
also obt-ained some notions of geography, astronomy and 
draughtsmanship. He sailed and fought the Moors before 
his twenties, turning up in Genoa between whiles ; and he 
acquired some repute as a good map-maker. He took part 
in one or more of Prince Henry's expeditions down the Afri- 
can coast; and in 1473 he married a pretty girl, above him 
in station, the daughter of Governor Perestrelo of Porto 
Santo. Columbus at this time was a young man of strik- 
ing aspect, tall, powerful and dignified, with hair prema- 
turely white, and sharp blue eyes. In fact, if we are to 
believe all we hear, he was a natural prince, to look at, 
"with that divine spark of religious enthusiasm which makes 
true genius." 

He and his wife went to Hve on the island of Porto Santo, 
which is three hundred miles off the coast ; and there he may 
have found leisure to think over his dreams of discovery^ 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 53 

But about a year after his marriage, he sent an inquiry to 
the famous astronomer Toscanelli, asking his opinion as to 
the feasibility of getting to the Spice Islands by sea, and the 
astronomer, who ¥/as a genial and open-hearted as well as 
learned man, wrote him an answer, containing a copy of 
another letter which he had shortly before written to King 
Alfonso of Portugal on the same subject. In this letter he 
says: "I have formerly spoken of a shorter route to the 
places of Spices than you ■ are pursuing by Guinea. Al- 
though I am well aware that this can be proved from the 
spherical shape of the earth, in order to make the point 
clearer I have decided to exhibit that route by means of a 
sailing chart, made by my own hands, upon which are laid 
down your coasts, and the islands from which you must be- 
gin to shape your course steadily westward, and the places 
at which you are bound to arrive, and how far from the pole 
or equator you ought to keep away; and through how many 
miles you are to arrive at the places most fertile in spices and 
gems ; and do not wonder at my calling ivest the parts where 
spices are, whereas they are commonly called east, because 
to persons persistently sailing westward, these parts will be 
found on the under side of the earth. I have drawn upon 
the map various places upon which you may come, in order 
that the navigators may be able to show the inhabitants that 
they have some knowledge of their countr}^, which is surely 
a pleasant thing." — Here follows a description of the places 
in question, derived from Marco Polo, and then the writer 
concludes, addressing Columbus, as follows: "From the city 
of Lisbon as far as the very great and splendid city of Quin- 
say" (Pekin) "are twenty-six spaces marked on the map, each 
of two hundred and fifty miles. This space is about a third 
part of the whole sphere. But from the island of Antilia, 
whicii you know, to the very splendid island of Cipango" 
(Japan) "there are ten spaces. So through the unknown 
parts of the route the stretches of sea are not great. Many 
things might have been stated more clearly, but one who 
duly considers what I have said will be able to work out the 



-4 HISTOEY OF SPAXESH AMERICA 

rest for himself. Farewell, most esteemed one.*' And the 
map is enclosed. 

Columbus replied again, drawing another letter from the 
ardent old gentleman, who now congratulated him on hav- 
ing undertaken the great enterprise, "fra-nght with honor as 
it must be. and inestimable gain, and most lofty fame among 
all Christian peoples. It will be a voyage to powerful king- 
doms, and to cities and provinces most wealthy and noble; 
it will also be advantageous to those kings and princes who 
are eager to have dealiugs and make alliances with the Chris- 
tians of other countries. For these and many other reasons 
I do not wonder that yon, who are of great courage, and the 
whole Portuguese nation, which has always had men distin- 
guished in such enterprises, are now inflamed with a desire 
to execute the said voyage." 

Poor old Toscanelli woidd have had to wait eighteen years 
to see his hopes verified, even to the extent and in the man- 
ner they were : but, as a matter of fact, he died eight years 
before Columbus's voyage. The question of interest is, did 
he,, or did Columbus, first conceive the grand idea of sailing 
westward to the East? We may suppose that Cohimbus sug- 
gested it to Alfonso, and that the latter, knowing of Tosca> 
neUi's eminence in science, had written asking him his views 
upon it ; or we may suppose that the astronomer himself origi- 
nat-ed it. The reasonable probabihty is that ToscaneUi de- 
serves the credit, and the lustre with which we are anxious 
to invest Columbus must be in so far dimmed. Be that as 
it may, he cannot be deprived of the honor of having per- 
-^onally put the idea to the proof. Aristotle had said in the 
early ages that "those who connect the region in the neigh- 
borhood of the Pillars of Hercules ^vith that toward India, 
and assert that in this way the sea is one, do not assert things 
very improbable." Aristotle, then, might have discovered 
America ; but he did not do so. Seneca, too, prophesied that 
Ocean would loose the bonds by which we have been confined, 
when an immense land shall be revealed, and Thide will no 
longer be most remote of countries. And many similar hint-s 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 55 

are to be fonnd in the writings of antiqmty ; but still Colum- 
bus was the one man who finally did what the others had so 
long been talking about. 

But the distance from Lisbon to Cathay is some twelve 
or thirteen thousand miles, including the trip across the Isth- 
mus of Panama ; and had Columbus suspected this fact, he 
would never have embarked upon the voyage, for no ships 
then built could have accomplished it. But he was encour- 
aged by several valuable pieces of ignorance. In the first 
place, he supposed the circumference of the globe to be about 
twenty thousand miles ; and then he calculated that Asia ex- 
tended east some thousands of miles further than is really 
the case. Upon the whole, he estimated that he would have 
little more than two thousand five hundred miles to go before 
reaching port ; besides which, there was Toscanelli's island 
of Antilia (wholly imaginary) to serve as a half-way house on 
the route. By all parties concerned, the continent of America 
was quietly wiped off the planet ; it had kept its secret weU for 
a million years more or less ; and whether or not stray cast- 
aways had ever landed upon its shores, they had not known 
what they were doing; and the aboriginal Americans, un- 
like us, their modern representatives, had never evinced the 
slightest curiosity as to what might lie east or west of them, 
or had fitted out any expeditions to investigate. Certainly 
Columbus is not to be blamed for never having suspected the 
existence of that world which it is his title to fame to have 
discovered ; but there is undeniably something comic in the 
situation. The proverb says that the world knows nothing 
of its greatest men; and it appears, likewise, that it was 
able to get along for many ages without -knowing anything 
of what we must maintain to be its greatest country. And 
when, at last, it stretched out its hands in the dark, intend- 
ing to grasp its own back parts, the thing with which its 
fingers really came in contact, which it assumed to be this 
portion of itself, ultimately turned out to be a perfect 
stranger, to whom nobody had been introduced. 

Wars prevented anything being done in Columbus's line 



56 HISTOKY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

between 147:1: and 1480. He wrote a book, which has been 
lost, and made several voyages, the details of which are 
lacking*. But he seems to have visited England, and per- 
haps Iceland. If he went to Iceland, whv did he not learn 
there that America had been found four centuries before? 
As has already been intimated, he might have heard about 
Greenland and Vinland, and yet have inferred nothing as to 
the existence of a continent; over yonder, or have reasoned 
that the outlying places in question had any connection with 
his "Indies." Moreover, if he had so inferred or reasoned, 
of course he would have made this his staple argument when 
urging the kings of Europe to fit him out for the voyage. As 
to the objection that he might have wanted to keep the credit 
of discovering America for himself, it falls to the ground when 
we reiu ember that he never was aware from first to last that 
there was any America to be discovered. So far from wish- 
ing to conceal the legend of Vinland, Columbus would have 
given nearly anything to have had it at his command. The 
argumentum ad Tiuland would have outweighed, in the 
minds of dubious kings with money in their pockets, all 
the ingenious theories extant. And that he did not use that 
argument is nearly proof positive that he did not have it to 
use. And that the Scandinavians themselves failed to con- 
nect the discoveries of Columbus with their own antiquated 
exploits is suJficieutly established by the fact 'that, from be- 
ginning to end, they never made any such claim. No: 
Colmnbus owed nothing to the Norsemen. 

There was the need of a route shorter than that round 
Africa, and more practicable than the overland one; and, 
as usually happens, with the need came the man to fulfil 
it. But even then the junto of cosmographers rejected the 
scheme as visionary, and though the king of Portugal had 
a hankering to try conclusions with the vision, material ob- 
stacles intervened and held him back. Besides, Colmnbus 
demanded great rewards : not only a good fitting-out, but 
all manner of contingent recompense in the way of 'domin- 
ions and governorships. King John, one regrets to record, 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 5? 

tried to betray his ambitious suitor by secretly sending a 
little ship of his own to try the experiment; but the sailors 
were appalled by the sight of the boundless Atlantic, and 
turned back without having tempted its waves. ColumbuSj 
upon hearing of tiiis trick, took 'offence, and departed to Cas- 
tile^ -to try the scheme on Ferdinand and Isabella, and perhaps 
on the rulers of Genoa likewise. But he met with nothing 
but ridicule — he had by this time deserted his wife and chil- 
dren, and the former had died — and up to 1487 all went con- 
trary with him. To console himself he "made "a connection" 
with a Spanish lady of noble birth, and had a son by her, the 
same Ferdinand who was lafcer his biographer. Meeting Bar- 
tholomew on the latter 's refcarn from his Cape of Good Hope 
voyage, he joined him in trying to interest England and 
France in his project; but in 1489 he was in Cordova, with 
nothing accomplished. By this time, Isabella was begin- 
ning to take some interest in the matter; but the siege of 
Granada, in 1491, again deferred Columbus's hopes. He 
was welluigh in despair, not foreseeing how close he was to 
the fruition of his hopes. 

Setting, out for Huelva, he stopped by the way at tha 
monastery of La Rabida near Palos. Here a conversation 
sprung up between himself and the prior, and the cosmdg- 
rapher Garcia Fernandez, and the mariner Pinzon. Pinzon 
was captivated, and wanted to go on the voyage himself. 
The prior wrote to Isabella, who summoned him to Granada, 
whence he returned with about two thousand dollars, which 
Colambus expended on new clothes, and started for the camp. 
The issue of his conference there with the queen was a prom- 
ise on her part to take up the matter as soon as Granada had 
surrendered. This event took place in the following Janu- 
ary ; but now once more he nearly wrecked his chances by 
insisting upon what the queen regarded as extravagant emol- 
uments. The man, in fact, had become a sort of semi-relig- 
ious fanatic; nothing could be done with him; it was take 
or leave. Negotiations were broken off and Columbus set 
out once more for France; but before he had gone six miles 



58 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

the queen relented, sent a messenger after liim, and an agree 
ment was at last drawn up in accordance with his ideas. It 
was signed on April 17, 1492, and Columbus, who already- 
had ulterior views, vowed to devote all the proceeds of the 
adventure to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre. 

Some di^culties were encountered in getting crews for 
the caravels; and it was necessary to paidon a number of 
malefactors, in order to fill out the quota; but at length 
the three ships — the "Santa Maria," the "Pinta," and the 
"Nina" — were made fit and ready, and with crews aggre- 
gating ninety all. told, they set sail from Palos on the od of 
August, 1492. They stood for the Canaries. 

Columbus sailed with Toscanelli's map before him, and 
his objective point was Cipango, which we now call Japan. 
Had he been in a dirigible balloon, he might have had some 
chance of reaching it. Having got on the twenty-eighth 
parallel, he meant to sail straight ahead until he sighted the 
island. But at this early stage the "Pinta's" rudder was in 
difficulties, and there was a volcanic eruption on Teneriff e ; 
and it was plain that the crews of the caravels had no heart 
for their job. But Columbus, being at last embarked upon 
the adventure to which he had been for twenty years look- 
ng forward, was resolved to carry it through at all hazards; 
and he began a systematic course of lying about the distance 
run each day, in order to persuade his men that it was only 
a little excursion after all. The Sargasso Sea was a new 
source of misgiving; but after a few days they had safely 
left this in their wake. The next trouble was furnished by 
the trade winds ; if they always blew in this one direction, 
now were the ships ever to get back again? Then there were 
mirages, and the sailors made sure that they were in a region 
of enchantments. By October 4th, mutiny was not far off. 
They had already overrun the distance on which the admiral 
had been calculating; but he had understated it five hun- 
dred miles, so they had, apparently, still something in hand. 
Flights of birds led him to believe that land w^as southwest 
of his course, which he accordingly altered a few points, and 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 59 

thus missed Florida, and finally — on October 12th — ^hit the 
island which is generally supposed to have been Watkins'. 
The great voyage had lasted ten weeks. 

It was two in the morning. With dawn, boats were low- 
ered and they rowed ashore. The scenery was beautiful, 
especially to men who had given themselves up for lost; and 
the crews were transported with joy and glorious anticipa- 
tions, while the native savages, crowding down to the beach, 
were quite as much excited at the aspect of their strange 
visitors. Supernatural beings they made sure they must 
be, and acted accordingly; but presently gained assurance 
enough to enter into conversation with them in the universal 
sign language. The natives wore gold ornaments, and it 
was not long before Columbus was asking them whence they 
obtained this metal; upon which they pointed to the south. 
Columbus inferred that Cipango must be in that direction, 
and close at hand. During the next ten days he cruised 
about the archipelago, and was persuaded that he was among 
the spice islands west of Cathay. On the 25th of October 
he steered for Cipango, meaning to get information there, 
and then keep on to Cathay, exchange compliments with the 
Great Khan, and so home again in triumph. And all the 
while Cathay was ten thousand miles due west. 

Ere long he stumbled upon Cuba, which he of course 
assumed to be Cipango; but though he found pearl-shells 
there, and pretty villages, cities there were none, and such 
information as he was able to elicit seemed to indicate that 
the king of the country was at war with the Khan, and that 
it was a part of the mainland of Asia. If this were so, 
where was Cipango? He kept along the coast toward the 
south, and, on reaching Cape Maisi, took it to be the end 
of Asia. Sailing across the strait to Haiti, which he named 
Hispaniola, he was again directed south to a land of gold 
which the natives named Cibao; and this, surely, must be 
the fugitive Cipango caught at last. But ere this Pinzon 
had deserted, to sneak away to Spain to anticipate the com- 
mander's glory; and now the flagship struck a sand-spit and 



60 HISTORY OF SPA^^SH AMERICA 

was knocked to pieces by the surf. He was left, therefore, 
with the "Nina" only, an open boat of about the size of a 
man-of-war's gig. How was he to get home? The problem 
was solved by the desire of forty of the mariners to staj- 
where they were, in the soft climate, and among the still 
softer natives; so a block-house was built for them out of 
the wreck of the flagship, and the rest set out on the "Nina" 
for home. On the way they picked up Pinzon, who had 
delayed to do a Httle trading, and had sprung his foremast. 
His excuses were somewhat awkward; but in the circufn- 
stances they had to serve. Columbus, opposed by the trade 
winds, ran north about twenty degrees, and then squared 
off for Spain : he was nearly destroyed in a gale, and was 
driven to one of the Azores, from which he narrowly es- 
caped, only to be hurried by another tempest into the port 
of Lisbon. The news of his exploit set all Portugal afire; 
and the king was urged to have Columbus run through the 
body, and to appropriate his discovery. But John II. per- 
ceived that there was more peril than profit in such a scheme ; 
and he invited him to court and made much of him. In due 
time he resumed his voyage, and reached Palos on the 15th 
of March. 

This was Columbus's apogee; everything came his way. 
He was called to Barcelona and welcomed with triumph. He 
was even allowed to sit down in the august presence of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella. He had brought half a dozen Caribs 
with him; they were assumed to be "Indians," and the "Ad- 
miral's interpretation of his discoveries was accepted Avithout 
question. The little detail that nothing of Oriental magnifi- 
cence — no Great Khans and mighty cities — had as yet been 
revealed, was passed over ; they would turn up upon further 
investigation. Land had been found ; and it could be noth- 
ing but Cipango and Cathay, and the demesnes that there 
adjacent lie. for the simple reason that it could be nothing 
else; there was nothing else for it to be. The short route 
to the Indies had been discovered for Spain. 

On September 2o, 1493, Columbus set out on his second 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 61 

voyage, with seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men; for 
there was no lack of volunteers and money this time. "Their 
dreams were of the marble palaces of Quinsay, of isles of 
spices, and the treasures of Prester John. The sovereigns 
wept for joy as they thought that such untold riches were 
vouchsafed them by special decree of Providence, as a re- 
ward for having overcome the Moor at Granada and ban- 
ished the Jews from Spaiii. . Columbus shared these views 
and regarded himself as a special instrument for executing 
the Divine decrees. He renewed his vow to rescue tne Holy 
Sepulchre, promising within seven years to equip at his own 
expense a crusading army of fifty thousand foot and four 
thousand horse ; within five years thereafter he would follow 
this with a second army of like dimensions. Thus nobody 
had the faintest suspicion of what had been done. The 
grandeur of the achievement was quite bej^'ond the ken of 
the generation that witnessed it. For we have since come 
to learn that in 1493 the contact between the eastern and 
western halves of our planet was first really begun, and the 
two streams of life which had flowed on for countless ages 
apart were thenceforth to mingle together. The first voy- 
age of Columbus was thus a unique event in the history of 
mankind. Nothing like it was ever done before, and noth- 
ing like it can ever be done again. No worlds are left for 
future Columbuses to conquer. The era of which this great 
Italian was the most illustrious representative had closed 
forever," 

Thus declaims the eloquent Professor Fiske. How sur- 
prised the great Oriental potentates would have been had 
they been informed that their dominions were thus threat- 
ened, and that out of Caribs and cocoanuts an army of a 
hundred thousand men was to be raised to snatch away the 
Holy Sepulchre from them! How dumfounded Columbus 
would have been, could he have known that he was never 
destined to come within ten thousand miles of the domains 
which he fancied himself to have annexed to Spain! How 
foolish all these good folks look in the light of Nineteenth 



63 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Century knowledge: and how natural it all is! How blind 
a tool is man in the hands of the Almighty, and how sdf- 
complacent ! 

The absolute lack of suspicion that a new world, or any- 
thing new, had been found by Columbus — except the new 
way of reaching what were assumed to be old places — must 
be borne in mind while reading the sequel. America was 
discovered, not in 1493, but by degrees during the next cent- 
ury or so. Columbus made fom* voyages thither in all, and 
then died, without any misgivings on the subject. The 
world in general, so far as it was heard from, shared his 
views; indeed, only the inhabitants of Cipango and Cathay 
could have called them in question. A fierce rivalry be- 
tween Spain and Portugal sprang up, and the pope was 
asked to confirm the discoveries to the former. On May 
3, 1493, this pontiff (Alexander YI.) issued a bull giving to 
Spain all lands then or thereafter to be discovered in the 
western sea ; and he followed this by a second decree, to the 
effect that all lands to the west of a meridian one hundred 
leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands should 
belong to the Spaniards. The Portuguese were left free to 
pursue their researches by wa,y of Africa. The Portuguese 
wished to have the Line of Demarcation further west, and 
finally Spain agreed to advance it thi*ee hundred and seventy 
leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. This change gave 
(as afterward appeared) the coast of Brazil to the Portu- 
guese, and had important bearing on the subsequent fame 
of Amerigo Vespucci. 

Meanwhile a Spanish department of Indian affairs was 
created, with Fonseca at the head of it; and he remained 
dictator for thirty years, much to the injury of all that was 
desirable and of good repute in the new dominions. He was 
such an arbitrary and merciless scoundrel as only Spain can 
produce ; he was of the type familiar to our day in the per- 
son of General Weyler. He was also an archdeacon, and 
was exalted to be a bishop. Under him began the famous 
colonial policy which has enabled Spain to confer more 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 63 

miseiy on the human race than any other nation, and has 
finally resulted m her overthrow and disgrace by a war 
beginning in the very spot which saw the first crimes of 
her career. 

A Franciscan monk, Bernardino Boyle, was appointed 
superintendent of the missionary work, which was to con- 
sist chiefly in baptizing or burning the natives, as conven- 
ience might require. In the course of. the preparations, 
Columbus and Fonseca quarrelled, and Columbus was backed 
by the sovereigns, which insured the enmity of the bishop 
during the remainder of the admiral's career. On the new 
expedition sailed many aristocratic young men of Spain, and 
also Columbus's own younger brother Diego, and Ponce de 
Leon, afterward of Florida. Las Gasas hkewise embarked, 
and the pilot La Cosa, a skilled mariner and chart-maker. 
The trip was easy and they arrived out on ISTovember 3d. 
They cruised about for a while, finding new islands, and 
cannibals, who slew some of them with poisoned arrows. 
At length Columbus sailed into the harbor on the Haitian 
coast where he had left his little colony; but they had all 
been killed and the fort torn to pieces. The occasion of the 
massacre had been the outrageous conduct of the Spaniards 
toward the native women. A new settlement, called Isa- 
bella, was founded; gold was found in the neighborhood, 
and twelve ships were sent back to Spain for more men and 
supplies. A march of exploration was undertaken, and the 
natives were frightened almost to death by the horses which 
the explorers bestrode, which they supposed to be part and 
parcel of the riders. After studying the habits of the tribes, 
which did not well agree with what he had been led to ex- 
pect of Asiatics, Columbus left affairs in charge of one 
of his subordinates, Margarita (another scoundrel), and of 
Diego, and went on a further cruise of discovery with three 
caravels. 

Sighting Cape Maisi once more he kept to the south, and 
skirted the coast of Cuba in a westerly direction. But ere- 
long, influenced by the natives, he bore away to the south. 



(54 HISTORY OF SPANISH AilERICA 

and stumbled upou Jamaica. Here he was fiercely attacked, 
but put the natives to flight with a bloodhound. He returned 
to the Cuban coast, which he still imagined to be that of 
Catha}-, and was confirmed in this belief by several acci- 
dental topographical features, and by the ill-comprehended 
tales of the Indians. Columbus finally arrived at the con- 
clusion that he was not very far from the mouths of the 
Ganges; and he projected a voyag^e across the Indian Ocean 
and round the Cape of Good Hope, thus circumnavigating 
the earth. It is conceivable that he might have coasted 
round South America, and come up along the shores of Peru, 
looking for the Pillars of Hercules ! But this crowning ab- 
surdity was spared him. He did not continue to the end 
of Cuba and beyond, which might have brought him to 
Tucatan and the splendid cities of Uxmal and Campeche; 
and the condition of his ships did not permit of his attempt- 
ing the longer voyage. He returned for the time to His- 
paniola. There, after having taken a vote from all hands, 
confirming the claim that the laud they had found was Asia, 
and that one might walk on it dry-shod to Spain, he set oat 
on another exploring trip, and, without knowing it, circum- 
na^-igated Hispaniola (Haiti), which he had supposed to be 
Cipango. The trip made it plain that Cipango it was not; 
and Columbus fell into a swoon, the result of his fatigue and 
mystification. What was the matter with geography? It 
might have made a sti'onger head than that of Columbus 
swim, to try to identify west with east. 

At this juncture, Bartholomew Columbus appeared at the 
admiral's bedside, in good season; for the island was going 
t^ the dogs. Diego had been unable to keep the rapacious 
and dissolute dons in order. Boyle and Margarita were 
among the woret offenders. They finally seized some of the 
ships, returned to Spain, and denounced the brothers Colum- 
bus; and when they got the ear of the arch-scoundi^el, Fon- 
seca, there was trouble ahead. There was no real ground 
for complaint. The Columbuses were none too strict in their 
government of the mutinous colony, and hanged only a few 



THE UNSUSPECTING . ExiST 65 

of tliem; but they were perhaps indiscreet in their plan of 
levying tribute from the natives, thereby driving them into 
open war, and paving the way for the slavery which later 
exterminated the native tribes. The situation was one of 
extreme difficulty. At last Spain sent over an official to 
investigate the reports; and the complaints which he received 
on all sides influenced him against Columbus, who, when the 
emissary returned to Spain, .thought it prudent to go witii 
him. Just before starting, gold was found near the present 
town of San Domingo, and the headquarters were removed 
to that place ; while Columbus became convinced that he had 
found, if not Cipango, at any rate Solomon's long-lost Ophir. 
We do not yet know precisely where Ophir is ; but w 3 are 
not ready to admit that Solomon can have brought his treas- 
ures all the way from the "West Indies to Jerusalem, 

Columbus had a bad voyage to Spain, and arrived in poor 
condition. But he was well received, and promised ships for 
a third voyage. The sovereigns, however, were violating 
their contract with him, in allowing private adventurers to 
fit out expeditions to the Indies. After much delay, owing 
to the machinations of Fonseca, Columbus sailed for the 
third time on the 30th of May, 1498, with six vessels. He 
divided this fleet into two parts, sending one division to His- 
paniola, while with the other he steered a southerly course, 
which brought him near the equator, where he hoped to find 
the mother-lode of the gold which was the object of his 
special ambition. He got into the calm-belt just north of 
the equator, and all the horrors described by "The Ancient 
Mariner" were around him. Luckily, he was in the equa- 
torial current, which presently carried him into the trade 
wind, before which he finished his voyage at the island 
which he named Trinidad, just off the delta of the Orinoco. 
The volume of fresh water discharging thence admonished 
him that he must be in presence of a continent; and how 
to make this continent fit into Toscanelli's map was more 
than the much-bewildered Columbus could imagine. He 
finally hit upon the notion that the world was shaped hke 



6d" history of SPANISH AMERICA 

a peajr; that he was uear the stem-end, and that the riveT 
poured down thence. And were he to ascend this stream, 
there was little doubt but that he would reach the Garden 
of Eden. Such was the imagination of the Fifteenth Century! 

Revolving these discoveries, Columbus sailed along the 
Pearl Coast, mistaking everything he saw for something 
else. But tintUly, feeling ill, he bore away for Hispaniola, 
meaning to take a rest while his brother Bartholomew pur- 
sued his researches along the Pearl Coast. 

But during the two years of Columbus's absence, things 
had gone badly in the colony; civil war and war with the 
natives had brought all to ruin. The malcontents had com- 
municated with Fouseca, and the latter was sending out a 
judge to investig-ate. To add to Columbus's discomfiture, 
his exploit had been rivalled if not obscured by the great 
voyage of Tasco da Gama, who had doubled the Cape of 
Good Hope and reached the coast of Hindustan. Gama was 
a Portuguese ; and he had really seen the cities and the Isles 
of Spice which had so unaccountably escaped Columbus. 
This Wiis a heavy blow both to the latter and to Spain ; and 
to make mattere worse, Bobadilla, the judge from Fonseca, 
turned up in Hispaniola and at once proceedeil to undo all 
the good work which the Colunibuses had been doing in the 
way of suppressing the insurrection. Diego was put in jail; 
and Christopher and Bartholomew were sent after him.. 
Bobadilla *s pretext for these enormities was, that he had 
proof that the three brothei*s were inciting the Indians to 
rebel against the Spanish king! And he sent them forth - 
"with to Spain, with their chains upon them — which Chris- 
topher would not permit to be removed. If this was the 
way Spanish viceroys were to be treated, he intended that 
the king and queen should have ocular proof of the fact. 
To Cadiz, therefore, the poor old man came, in his unmerited 
disgrace, and aroused an outburst of popular sympathy and 
indignation. The queen sent a courier to him, with a cor- 
dial invitation to the Alhambra, where she met him with 
tears and apologies. Bobadilla was disowned, and Colum- 



THE UNSUSPECTING EAST 67 

bus was promised the return of his honors and repayment 
of his losses — which last, however, the Spanish sovereigns 
characteristically omitted to perform. 

Ovando, another of Fonseca's creatures, and a priest, 
was sent to restore order in Hispaniola. He went out with 
thirty ships and two thousand five hundred men. Columbus 
was flattered with the command of another voyage of discov- 
ery, as a reply to the recent exploit of Da Gama. By this 
time, Amerigo Vespucci had already made his trip along the 
South American northern coast as far as Maracaibo. Colum- 
bus was to return to the Cuban — which he imagined to be 
the Cochin-China — coast, in quest of a passage between the 
"Eden" continent and Malacca. Thus would he come upon 
the coast of Hindustan which Da Gama had just left. Co- 
lumbus was full of hope, and renewed once more his threats 
against the heathen holders of the Holy Sepulchre; it is 
probable that his mind was somewhat impaired, and his 
insanity took the form of religious mysticism. His fleet 
comprised four caravels and one hundred and fifty men. 
Bartholomew and his son Ferdinand (the bastard) went with 
him. He put in at San Domingo in ordef to get a fresh ves- 
sel; but was ordered out of the harbor by Ovando, who was 
just sending out a fleet of twenty-six ships laden with gold 
wrung from the natives, and carrying Bobadilla and others 
of Columbus's chief foes. In spite of the warning of an ap- 
proaching hurricane, given by Columbus, the fleet set sail, 
and very soon twenty of the ships were at the bottom of the 
Caribbean. Only one ship reached Spain; but on that one, 
by a curious chance, was a sum of gold destined for Colum- 
bus himself. Meanwhile Columbus had ridden out the hurri- 
cane in safety, and now proceeded along the south of Cuba to 
Cape Honduras. Here he fancied himself to be close to the 
Ganges ; and was much inspirited by the evidences of semi-civ- 
ilization which he encountered. Running along the sixteenth 
parallel eastward, he finally turned Cape Gracias a Dios, and 
to his joy found the coast trending due south. Exploring par- 
ties sent ashore found stone houses, mummies, carvings, and 
— 4 



6S HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

gold in abundance. Columbus also got news, which he mis- 
understood of course, of the proximity of the Pacific Ocean ; he 
mistook the description of the "narrow place" between these 
two seas for a strait, instead of an isthmus. But the strait 
did not materialize, and presently his crews forced him to 
turn back. In spite of an allowance of many leagues, the 
westerly current pushed him so far that, instead of making 
Hispaniola, he brought up on the south coast of Cuba, where 
he was nearly wrecked; and it was June 23, 1503, when he 
at last got ashore on the north coast of Jamaica. He built 
a shelter of his wrecked vessel, and sent to Ovando for aid; 
but was kept waiting for a whole year, during which he 
suffered much, both from mutinies and native onslaughts. 
It was not until June, 1504, that Ovando, yielding to pop- 
ular clamor, sent two ships to bring Columbus thence. 
Ovando had meanwhile perpetrated the most hideous out- 
rages in Hispaniola, as we shall presently see. On I^oveni- 
ber Tth, Columbus started for Spain; Isabella was on her 
death-bed when he arrived at Seville. She was his last pro- 
tector against his enemy Fonseca. He survived but eighteen 
months, in poverty and sickness. On the 20th of May, 1506, 
he died at Valladohd. He was buried, without notice or 
respect, in the Franciscan monastery there; was removed 
seven years later to Seville, and finally, in 1536, to San 
Domingo. The current belief is that the remains were after- 
ward taken to Havana ; but the recent brazen act of Spain 
iu claiming them has opened inquiries which make it doubt- 
ful if any one really knows where the body of Columbus is. 
He died neglected and dishonored ; and at the time of his 
death no one knew that it was a new world that he had 
found. Xo sailor or writer had surmised it. A new route 
to the Indies he was believed to have opened; but the voy- 
age of Da Gama had taken much of the bloom off this 
achievement in the popular mind. The unanswered ques- 
tion wasy are his discoveries commercially valuable? If not, 
let him be anathema I and not for years did their commercial 
value appear. Yet Columbus cannot be considered an un- 



THE CJNSUSPECTING EAST 69 

fortunate man. Men are only happy in looking forward to 
success, not in achieving it; for they ever stand on what 
they have gained, and reach after more. This Genoese 
mariner came upward from nothing to the most conspicuous 
and honored position among his contemporaries; for a time 
he was almost on equal terms with the monarchs of Spain, 
and was allowed to quarter his arms with theirs. No further 
rewards that he might have won would have made him 
happier; and had he Uved to learn that his plan of conquer- 
ing Jerusalem from the Infidel was apocryphal, he would 
have been overwhelmed with mortification. The trouble 
with him was that he had been only too fortunate, and that 
nothing he could have accomplished after his first great suc- 
cess could have stood on an equality with it. And although 
his end was unhappy, he has had a revival of honor since 
his death which surpass^ the posthtmious lot of m(»t other 
men. The world insists upon being grateful to him, not for 
what he believed himself to have done, but for what he act- 
ually did. His immortality is secure; and his shortcomings 
aind follies are forgotten in the splendc^ of his glcay. 



70 mSTORY OF SPANISH AMEEICA 



III 

THE CASOV5, VESPUCIU8, AND MAGELLAN 

THE mariners of England probably heard something 
about the attempt of the Columbuses to induce the 
English king to furnish them with means to reach 
India by crossing the Atlantic; and there is reason to beheve 
that expeditions were sent out from the port of Bristol, prior 
to Columbus's voyage, with a view of finding out what lay be- 
yond the western horizons. The supposed "Island of Brazil" 
was one of the places they looked for ; but they met with no 
success. Among the promoters of these enterprises was one 
John Cabot, born, like Columbus, in Genoa, and admitted 
to citizenship in Venice. He married there and had three 
sons; was a merchant, trading with the East, and was curi- 
ous as to Oriental countries. In 1490 he moved to England 
and Hved in Bristol ; he was much interested in the reports 
of Columbus's voyage, and in 1496 or 1497 Henry VII. 
issued letters patent to sail to the east, west or north, with 
five ships carrying the English flag, to seek and discover aU 
the islands, countries, regions, or provinces of pagans in 
whatever part of" the world. It was to the Cabots that this 
permission was given; and the remonstrances of Spain were 
met by omitting the southern direction from the instructions. 
Only one ship, the "Matthew," sailed, with a crew of eigh- 
teen ; the start was in May, 1497, and on the 24th of June 
they discovered what was assnmed to be "the territory of 
the Grand Cham. " A month later they were back in Bristol, 
and King Henry made them a present of ten pounds sterling. 
Various honors of less substantial nature were conferred 
upon John Cabot, and by degrees the story circulated that 
he had discovered the Island of Brazil and the Seven Cities. 
He made another voyage in 1498, and that is the last we 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 71 

hear of the elder Cabot. But his son Sebastian entered the 
sservice of Ferdinand of Aragon about fifteen years later, 
received honors from that monarch, €md between 1526 and 
1530 was involved in an expedition to La Plata which turned 
out badly. In 1548 he was back in England, and was instru- 
mental in opening a trade with Russia by way of the "White 
Sea. He died in London about 1667. During these sixty 
years following Columbus's first voyage, geography had 
been growing faster than the comprehension of its revela- 
tions; and in the confusion of discoveries mistakes were 
often made as to who should have the credit for them. One 
of the absurdities perpetrated by subsequent historians of 
these stirring times was, that John Cabot's voyage of 1498 
had been undertaken with a view of finding a northwest 
passage to Asia; although it had not been suspected in 1498 
that there was any America across or around which a pas- 
sage, northwest or otherwise, could be made. On the con- 
trary, the coast which Cabot found was supposed by him to 
be Asia itself. As a matter of fact, he probably discovered 
Newfoundland. In the first years of the sixteenth century, 
the brothers Cortereal made several voyages to Labrador, 
or places in that region, and raised question as to whether 
the Portuguese were not transcending the Papal Meridian 
already alluded to. A more serious cause of dispute might 
have arisen with England, which claimed these lands through 
the Cabots; but Portugal was presently conquered by Spain, 
and was thereby disabled from pushing her side of the case. 
Neither the Cabots nor the Cortereals are in the first class 
of discoverers; they but adopted the initiative of Columbus. 
But there was a certain famous Florentine who holds a high 
part in this age of new things, and whose true merits as a 
discoverer and explorer are matter of legitimate interest to 
the world, and to Americans especially. 

His name was Amerigo Vespucci, or Americus Vespucius, 
according as we adopt the Italian or the Latin way of spell- 
ing. He came of an ancient and honorable family, which 
had been wealthy and remained respectable. Amerigo was 



73 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

fairly well educated, and was fond of making Latin quotA- 
tious — an aocomplislinient less readily practiced tlieu, than 
in tliese days of apjvndices to lexicons. But his favorite 
study, and one in which he achiere<i eminence, was practical 
astronomy ; no one could surpass him in tixiug a latitude or 
longitude. Geography was also one of his hobbies; and 
it seems plain that his natiu^il bent was toward travel and 
exploration. But in his early youth he was taken into the 
comuieivial establishment of the Medicis, and that came 
near being the end of him. He was not heard of, to any 
oli'ect. until he had nearly reached his fortieth year : he was 
born in March, 145'2, and was therefore at least six and prob- 
ably sixteen years Columbus's junior. He was agreeable in 
manner and conversi^tion, keen witted, humorous, and self- 
coutaineii. His face was dark and aquiline, and his body 
strong, and of middle height. 

Had the Meiiicis happened to retain this gentleman at 
*'oliice-work,'' it is certain that the world would never have 
heivrd of him. Sal:\ried positions are apt to be fat^ to gen- 
ius. But they were engaged in widespread commercial 
dealings, and about 1490 they selected Amerigo to act as 
coutidential agent for them in Spain. Amerigo took with 
him his nephew Juan, who subsequently also attained dis- 
tinction as a map-maker and na-sigiitor. "^hile in Barce- 
lona, Amerigo took occasion to engage in some commercial 
ventures of his own: in 1-1:95 he contracted to furnish cargo 
for four or five ships for the Atlantic trade. He probably 
was acquaint^ with Columbus before this date, and the 
friendship between the two men was always cordial. Two 
lettei-s of his, written between 1496 and 1504, to one of the 
Medicis, and to his friend Soderini, inform us as to his doings 
during that intervtU. The letters were published (as was 
the custom of the day) and were widely read ; but, owing to 
some mistakes in proof-reading and interpretation, have oc- 
casioned much trouble to historiciU investigators. Amerigo 
himself never bothered his head about them; and he knew 
no more of tlie existence of "America" than did Columbus, 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 73 

The letters were unstudied and informal communications of 
facts, -and nothing more; they were never meant as histori- 
cal documents, and lacked the completeness and explicitness 
which they would in the latter event have possessed. 

The Soderini letter tells about four voyages of the writer, 
two for Spain, and two for Portugal. In these voyages, 
Amerigo was not the commander, but the astronomer, or 
scientific navigator — a necessary office in those days, though 
sometimes combined with that of commander. The first 
voyage took place from May 10, 149'^, io October 15, 1498; 
a certain line of coast was explored which was thought, 
from its length, to be continental. A mistake in transcrib- 
ing or translating a name afterward led to this voyage being 
confounded with the second voyage, with the result of much 
darkening of counsel. The second voyage, with Ojeda and 
La Cosa, started May 20, 1499, and returned in June, 1500. 
It followed the north coast of Brazil as far as the Pearl Coast 
(visited the year before by Columbus) and then on to the 
Gulf of Maracaibo. The third voyage set out from Lisbon 
on May 14, 1501, under Portuguese auspices, and returned 
on September 15, 1502. On this occasion they ran down the 
Brazilian coast to latitude thirty-four degrees south, and 
then turned southeast and came upon the island of South 
Georgia. This voyage aroused attention, for it was in a 
part of the world hitherto unknown, and the land it discov- 
ered was fitted into existing maps with more difficulty than 
the Indies of Columbus. A fourth voyage attempted to 
reach the southern end of the South American coast line, 
but met with disasters, and returned in 1504. In the au- 
tumn of this year Amerigo returned to the Spanish service 
with the rank of captain and a good salary. Two more voy- 
ages he made, exploring the Gulf of Uraba ; then he married 
and settled down; being raised in 1508 to the rank of Pilot 
Major. He died 1512. 

Such are the leading incidents of Amerigo's career, in 
which, certainly, appears nothing discreditable or treacher- 
ous. Nevertheless, he has long suffered from posthumous 



T^ HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

reproach, which is ba^ed upou inferences drawn from his 
own letters above-mentioned — or, to be more exact, from 
Latin translations of the Italian originals, which were lost. 
Lost, also, and probably destroyed, is the manuscript of a 
work which he had in hand, comprising a detailed and scien- 
tific accoimt of the same voyages which he described conver- 
sationally and informally in the letters. But the Italian text 
of one of the most import^\nt letters — to Soderini — ^has lately 
been recovered ; and a perusal of that cleai-s up much which 
had hitherto been obscure and which led to the charges of 
bad faith and treachery alluded t<>. 

~ The Latin vei'sion of the letter in question was published 
from a Lorraine pi-ess in 160T. The Italian original was 
found only in 187'^. Comparing the two text*, we find that 
the name of- an Indian place mentioned by the writer has 
been changed in the Latin to quite a different name. Why 
was this done? Apparently because the transcriber failed to 
make out the original name, and therefore substituted for it 
one which he thought better fitted the context. In the Ital- 
ian, the name is Lariab; in the Latin, it has been changed 
to Parias. In making this alteration, the Latin transcriber 
had not been aware that in the language of the Huastecas 
names of places oft«n end in ab. On the other hand, Parias 
was already known as the native name of a region on the 
western Atlantic coast, about two thousand miles distant 
from the Lariab referreii t^ by Amerigo; and the conse- 
quence of the alteration was, of course, to shift the scene 
of this first voyage beyond i*eeoguitdon. To confirm the 
error, Yespucci had describeti a little village built on piles, 
like "a little Veuica " in the Tabasco region; but there was 
also a village called Venezuela in the Gulf of Maracaibo; 
and upou the assumption (wholly contrary to the facts) that 
there could be but one village built on piles after the fashion 
of a little Venice, the locaHty of the voyage was violently 
removed from the Gulf of Mexico, where he placed it by 
latitude and longitude, and carried to the northern coast of 
SoutJi America. Moreover, Amerigo did, in his second voy- 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 75 

age, sail along the northern coast of South America, in 1499 : 
and Columbus had been in the same place the year previous. 
Thus did it happen — long after the death of both the parties 
concerned— that Amerigo was accused of having "faked" 
the story of his first voyage, and made it a false duplicate 
of the second, for no other reason than that he might be 
credited with the discovery of a continent one year before 
his friend Columbus, who was there in 1498. 

The preposterousness of the charge becomes evident upon 
examination. In 1504, when the letter was written, neither 
Amerigo nor any one else suspected that a new continent 
had been discovered. He supposed that it was Asia which 
he was coasting ; and that he did visit this coast before Co- 
lumbus the dates prove. Again, when an inquiry was insti- 
tuted, in 1515, to determine just what lands Columbus had 
discovered, in order to settle what revenues his son Diego 
was entitled to, it was established at this inquiry, beyond 
doubt, that Amerigo neither made, nor professed to have 
made, any exploration of the Maracaibo coast prior to 1498. 
As a matter of fact and record, Amerigo, on his first voy- 
age, sailed for Cape Honduras, and round Yucatan, and 
found his "little Venice" on the Tabasco shore. This was 
in 1497. Thence he went by Tampico (which he understood 
to be called Lariab) to the Huasteca country ; and" after some 
stay there, he continued north and west for eight hundred 
and seventy leagues, and refitted in a fine harbor, which 
may have been the Chesapeake. Sailing eastward there- 
from, he saw the Bermudas, and so returned home. 

The coast of Florida was visited by Spaniards before 
1502, but the peninsula was confounded by geographers 
with the island of Cuba in many of their maps. This visit 
to Florida could only have been made by Amerigo, and, if 
before 1502, could only have been in 1497, the date he him- 
self assigns to it. 

The second voyage of Amerigo, as we have seen, was l/ 
concerned with the Brazilian coast. He was followed, in 
1499, by Pinzon, who discovered the mouth of the Amazon. 



76 HISTOEY OF SPANISH AMEEICA 

In the next year De Cabral, intending to go round Africa to 
Hindustan, was blown across tlie Atlantic and came unawares 
upon the Brazilian coast— thus discovering America anew, 
and involuntai'ily. He took possession of it for Portugal, as- 
suming that it must lie east of the Papal Meridian. In 1501, 
Vespucci started on his third Toyage, which brought him to 
the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, and ultimately to South Georgia. 
This voyage first established the existence of antarctic cold. 
But the most Interesting featiu^ of the voyage, to contempo- 
raries, was the unlooked-for continent below the equator. It 
was on no ancient maps. Amerigo himself called it a*' New 
World," though he obviously does not connect it with the 
coast of Florida and beyond, along which he had sailed in 
his voyage of 14r97. "For," says he, in his letter, "it tran- 
scends the ideas of the ancients, since most of them say that 
beyond the equator to the south there is no continent, but 
only the sea which they c^ the Atlantic. But this last 
voyage of mine has proved that this opinion of theirs was 
erroneous, since in these southern regions I have found a 
continent more thickly inhabited by peoples and animals 
than our Europe, or Asia, or Africa, and moreover a cli- 
mate more temperato and agreeable than in any region 
known to us." The term "ISTew "World" caught the public 
attention, and the more because a Latin translation of the 
letter in which it occurred was published in loOJt, with the 
title "Mundus Kovus." With this, of course. Amerigo had 
nothing to do, nor was he at that time in Europe. Bat it 
was a long step toward that final naming of the Continent 
of America, which has since then occasioned so much criti- 
cism adverse to the eminent navigator. 

The matter was taken up by map-makers and geograph- 
ical commentators from that time on, and imtil long after 
Amerigo's death. They had supreme difficulty in getting 
into their heads the conception of a Pacific Ocean, and made 
frantic efforts to accommodate the stories of new lands west 
of the Atlantic with supposed developments of the Asiatic 
coasts. The discoveries of Amerigo on his third voyage are 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 77 

sometimes represented as a huge island below the equator, 
somewhat answering in position to Australia; and some- 
times as a monstrous projection of the Asiatic continent. 
Occasionally it would be regarded as connected in some way 
with southern Africa; anything, in short, rather than sup- 
pose a stretch of clear water separating Asia from the new- 
found lands. Thus in the maps of Ruysch, published 1508, 
and the Lenox Globe, dated two years later, we have Novus 
Mundus as an Australia ; and in the map of Orontius, made 
in 1531, we find North and South America drawn as a huge 
promontory thrusting forth in a general southeasterly di- 
rection from Cathay, and merging into unknown antarctic 
regions, after Ptolemy's old suggestion of a southern Terra 
Incognita. In this map we behold the name America tak- 
ing the place of the Novus Mundus which has hitherto been 
applied to this region, whether continent or island. It prop- 
erly stood for what we now know as Brazil ; but Brazil had 
been accepted as the same with the entire new discovery be- 
low the equator, and was not thought to have any necessary 
connection with the Indies of Columbus. In 1507 was pub- 
lished a small book written by Waldseemiiller, proposing that 
the "Fourth Part" of the globe, discovered by Amerigo, should 
be called Amerige, or America — the land of Americus. The 
reason why a distinct name was proposed for this Fourth Part 
was, because it was distinctly new ; and the reason why the 
lands discovered by Columbus were not at the same time 
called Columbia was, because they were believed to be already 
named Cathay. And it was not until, years later, the con- 
ception began to dawn in men's minds that the new south- 
ern island or continent was of one piece with the Columbian 
Indies, that the name already bestowed on the former came 
insensibly to be applied to the whole. No disrespect was 
intended to Columbus; it was simply a question of express- 
ing the unity of the north and south portions, so tardily real- 
ized. And that Amerigo could have had any part in the 
proceeding is manifestly impossible. He had no sinister 
ambition to immortalize his name at the expense of his 



:S HISTORY OF SPANISH AMEEICA 

friend Columbus ; he was simply anxious to fulfil commis- 
sions intrusted to bim -witb all tbe energy and ambition be 
bad ; and was as fond of exploration as be wa^ well qualified 
for it. But be was fated to suffer mabgnmeut. If it bad 
come before bis deatb, be could easily bave cleared bimself ; 
as it came postbumously, be was debarred from tbis, but, on 
tbe otber band, it never burt bis feelings. He bas bad. to 
wait to tbe present decade for ^"indication, wbicb must like- 
wise be a matter of indifference to bim ; but it is pleasant for 
Americans to know tbat tbeir coimtry does not bear tbe pat- 
ronymic of a swindler and villain, 

Amerigo was attacked by Scandinavian commentators, 
and by Las Casas, tbe biogi'apber of Columbus, all owing to 
a misunderstanding of tbe documentary evidence. It is not 
tbe first time tbat tbe trutb bas been illustrated tbat tbe most 
bitter quarrels are tbose wbicb turn out to bave been due to 
some mistake. People are always ready to denounce an in- 
justice — even readier tban to take tbe pains to make sure 
tbat an injustice bas been committed. But tbey are bardly 
less willing to do justice to tbose wbo bave been wronged, 
wben tbe wrong bas been made plain ; and tbe time may 
come wben we sball celebrate tbe birtbday of Amerigo Ves- 
pucci witb as mucb goodwill as we now give to tbe magnifi- 
cation of Cbristopber Columbus. 

After tbe existence of a continuous stretcb of land across 
tbe Atlantic bad been discovered; and after it bad been made 
tolerably clear tbat tiiese strange coasts did not answer to tbe 
anticipations of tliose wbo assumed tbem to be Asiatic ; tbe 
next step in tbe evolution of tbe conception of America as a 
tbing by itself was to realize tbe existence of a vast ocean on 
tbe f urtber side of it. Rimiors of tbis bad been beard, or 
glimpses of it c^ugbt, perbaps, at one time or anotber, be- 
fore tbe actual fact was understood ; tbe persuasion against 
it was so strong, and involved so mucb, tbat it would only 
be accepted wben tbe last possibility of questioning it was 
gone. Meanwbile Spain was very anxious to get tbrougb or 
round this singular barrier of islands, or whatever it was, 



THE-CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 79 

that was keeping her from sharing the profits which Da 
Gama had hrought to Portugal from Hindustan; and she 
repeatedly sent out expeditions with the view of accomplish- 
ing this. The fourth voyage of Amerigo was made in the 
Portuguese interest, and, as we have already observed, it 
met with mishaps ; one of the six ships was sunk, and the 
others were separated. Amerigo, in his ships, proceeded io 
Cape Frio, where, he says, "we stayed five months, building 
a block-house and loading our ships with dye-wood. "We 
could get no further for want of men and equipments. So 
after finishing this work we decided to return to Portugal, 
leaving twenty-four men in the fortress, with twelve pieces 
of cannon, a good outfit of small-arms, and provisions for 
six months. We made peace with aU the natives in the 
neighborhood, whom I have not mentioned in this voyage, 
but not because we did not see and have dealings with great 
numbers of them. As many as thirty of us went forty leagues 
inland, where we saw so many things that I omit to relate 
them, reserving them for my book, 'The Four Journeys.' " 
This voyage had been made in the Portuguese service; 
but Amerigo now returned to the flag of Spain ; apprehend- 
ing, probably, that the Papal Meridian would invalidate 
whatever he might accomplish for the other Power. An- 
other voyage to the Brazilian coast was planned, which was 
to determine finally where its turning-point (if any there 
were) was placed; but circumstances prevented this enter- 
prise from being performed. Portugal raised objections; 
and it was held prudent to defer the matter for the time. 
But in 1505 Amerigo, with La Cosa, explored the Gulf of 
Darien, and penetrated two hundred miles up the river 
Atrato. They had thought this might prove a strait lead- 
ing to Asiatic waters; in this they were disappointed, but 
were comforted with grains of gold in the sands of the 
stream, and with these, and pearls, they returned home 
with a good grace. Another voyage, commercial in its 
purpose as well as in its issue, was made in 1607. Later 
still, another voyage, though without Amerigo, was under- 



-80 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

taken to extreme southern waters, the dispute with Portu- 
gal having been adjusted ; but the captains disagreed, and 
came back in October, 1509. Amerigo died in 1513 ; in 1515, 
Solis explored La Plata ; but was there captured and eaten 
by the natives. Before this time the idea that there might 
be a body of water west of the Noviis Mundus had been ad- 
umbrated in a map drawn by Stobnicza; and in 1513 this 
surmise was supported by the discovery of the Pacific by 
Nuiiez de Balboa; though, of course, Balboa had no reahza- 
tion that the expanse he looked upon stretched thousands 
of miles beyond the reach of his wondering eyes. It was 
reserved for Magellan to force the con^-iction of that great 
fact upon mankind. 

The Portuguese were chieiiy instrumental in preparing 
the way for this. Their voyages roimd Africa had brought 
them in warHke contact with the Arabs, or Moors, and they 
had seen the necessity of seizing upon points of vantage to 
secure their trade in eastern waters. Incidentally, they 
proved that the Asiatic coast had not so great an easterly 
extension as had been asserted by early geographers. Be- 
tween the longitude of Brazil and that of the Moluccas there 
wa^ manifestly a vast expanse, which must be filled up by 
something. What that something was, Ferdinand Magellan 
(or Fernao da Magalhaes, as his countrymen called him) was 
now to demonstrate. 

He was born, about 14S0. of an old and aristocratic fam- 
ily, in the wild region of Sabrosa. He was stm-dy, keen and 
brave, with glowing dark eyes under great, arching brows, 
and the bony, bearded jaws of a man fashioned for conflicts. 
Withal, he was kind of heart, ready to risk his life for oth- 
ers. He was brought up in the court at Lisbon, served in 
the navy in its exploit-s m the East, and at all times kept 
in the van of danger and adventure. At Malacca, in 150S, 
an event occurred which is well described by Professor Fiske. 
"While they were preparing to take in a cargo of pepper and 
ginger, the astute Malay king had plotted their destruction. 
His friendly overtures deceived the frank and somewhat too 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 81 

unsuspicious Sequeira. Malay sailors and traders were al- 
lowed to come on board the four ships, and all but one of 
the boats were sent to the beach, under command of Fran- 
cisco Serrano, to hasten the bringing of the cargo. Upon 
the quarter-deck of his flagship Sequeira eat absorbed in a 
game of chess, with half a dozen dark faces intently watch- 
ing him, their deadly purposes veiled with polite words and 
smiles. Ashore the houses rose terrace-like upon the hillside, 
while in the foreground the tall tower of the citadel — square, 
with pyramidal apex, like an Italian bell-tower — glistened 
in the September sunshine. The parties of Malays on the 
ships, and down on the bustling beach, cast furtive glances 
at this summit, from which a puff of smoke was presently 
to announce the fatal moment. The captains and principal 
officers on shipboard were to be at once stabbed and their 
vessels seized, while the white men ashore were to be mas- 
sacred. But a Persian woman in love with one of the offi- 
cers had given tardy warning, so that just before the firing 
of the signal the Portuguese sailors began chasing the Ma- 
lays from the decks, while Magellan, in the only boat, rowed 
for the flagship, and his stentorian shout of 'Treason!' came 
just in time to save Sequeira. Then in wild confusion, as 
wreaths of smoke curled about the fatal tower, Serrano and 
a few of his party sprang upon their boats and pushed out 
to sea. Most of their comrades, less fortunate, were sur- 
rounded and slaughtered on the beach. Nimble Malay skiffs 
pursued and engaged Serrano, and while he was struggling 
against overwhelming odds, Magellan rowed up and joined 
battle with such desperate fury that Serrano was,saved. No 
sooner were all the surviving Portuguese brought together 
on shipboard than the Malays attacked in full force, but 
European guns were too much for them, and after several 
of their craft had been sent to the bottom, they withdrew. 
This affair was the beginning of a devoted friendship be- 
tween Magellan and Serrano, sealed by many touching and 
romantic incidents, like the friendship between Gerard and 
Denys, in 'The Cloister and the Hearth'; and it was out 



82 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

of that friendship that in great measure grew the most 
wonderful voyage recorded in history." 

In 1511 Serrano was wrecked on a pirate island near the 
Mohiccas; the pirates returned while he was there, and, while 
they were ashore, Serrano seized their ship and went back to 
the Moluccas, where he remained for the rest of his life. He 
wrote to Magellan, and the latter resolved to join him. Not 
realizing the breadth of the Pacific, however, he thought that 
the antipodal Papal Meridian must fall west of the Moluccas, 
and that, consequently, Serrano must be on Spanish ground. 
This delayed him in his purpose ; and meanwhile he got out 
of favor with Portugal. In 1515, or earlier, he had persuaded 
himself that there must be a passage through the coast-hne of 
Novus Mundus, and he was anxious to discover it. Emanuel 
of Portugal having refused to assist him, he turned to the 
king of Spain, then but a boy; here he foimd favor, and 
on September 20, 1519, he sailed with five ships from the 
Guadalquivir. His vessels were named "Trinidad," "San 
Antonio," " Concepcion, " "Victoria," and "Santiago"; the 
largest was of one hundred and twenty tons burden, the 
smallest of seventy- five; all were old and hardly seaworthy. 
The crews, a motley company, numbered two hundred and 
eighty men all told. Emanuel of Portugal was all the while 
doing his utmost to destroy the expedition, sowing seeds of 
mutiny in the crew, and sending word to his commanders in 
Asiatic stations to arrest the ships should they arrive there. 
Of the four subordinate captains of Magellan's fleet, one 
only, Juan Serrano, brother of the man he saved, remained 
faithful to him in the sequel. 

After experience of calms, storms, and incipient mutiny, 
the ships reached Pernambuco on ISTovember 39th. Thence 
they went to the La Plata, and satisfied themselves that it 
was not the strait they sought. Running down the Patago- 
nian coast, through stormy weather, they found shelter in 
the harbor of Port St. Juhan ; and there the mutiny broke 
out in earnest. It was Easter Sunday. 

The voyage, in fact, had been a hard one, and the chances 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 83 

of finding a strait were slim. But Magellan would listen to 
no suggestions of returning; he would go on until the strait 
was found or the end of the continent reached. Here, then, 
they were to remain until the antarctic winter was over — six 
months of enforced idleness and discomfort. The mutinous 
captains felt that their time to strike had come; and on 
Easter Sunday night they boarded the "Antonio," put her 
captain in irons, and mastered the crew. They now had 
three of the five ships in their power, and the game seemed 
theirs. ■ On Monday morning the situation was revealed to 
Magellan. Instead of succumbing, he at once took meas- 
ures, and very radical ones, to turn the tables on the muti- 
neers. He sent a boat with some half dozen trusty men to 
the "Victoria" ; so small a number was permitted by the trai- 
tor captain Mendoza to come aboard ; and upon the latter's 
refusal to come to the flagship, Espinosa, the alguazil, leaped 
upon him and struck a dagger through his throat. Before 
the crew could recover from their surprise, another boatload 
of men, which had been kept in readiness by Magellan, and 
was led by his brother-in-law Barbosa, came swarming over 
the ship's side and captured her. The odds were now in 
Magellan's favor; and by night he had fought aud captured 
the "San Antonio"; whereupon the "Concepcion" surren- 
dered. Quesada, the chief ringleader, was relieved of his 
head forthwith, and two others were kept in irons till the 
fleet sailed. Such a man was Magellan, 

During the last week of August, spring began, and the 
fleet, less the "Santiago," which had been wrecked, set out 
southward. After much bad weather, they made Cape Vir- 
gins on October 21st, and soon entered a large bay. It was 
the opening of what is now known as Magellan's Strait ; high 
mountains covered with snow surrounded it on both sides ; it 
was in some places of great width, in others narrow. At this 
point the "San Antonio" took the opportunity to desert, and 
returned to Spain, For five weeks the remaining three ships 
wound along through the tortuous channel. Provisions were 
running short; but Magellan would not turn back, even if 



84 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

*'lie had to eat the leather off the ship's yards." At length 
his persistency was rewarded by the sight of the open sea. 
**When," to quote Richard Eden, "the capitayne was past 
the strayght and saw the way open to the other niayne sea, 
he was so gladde thereof that for joy the teares fell from his 
eyes, and named the poyiit of the laude from wliense he first 
sawe that sea Capo Desiderato. ' ' And the broad ocean which 
lay before him was so calm, after his many stormful days, 
that he called it the Pacific. But months of a voyage as 
trWng as any they had encountered still lay before them. 
Could the planet be so vast? Till December they kept a 
northerly course : then they struck out boldh' across the un- 
known waste. They ran across one or two islands; but ere 
long they were swallowed up in the seemingly endless im- 
mensity of ocean. For yet five thousand miles they were 
to see nothing of land. They were reduced to the utmost 
extremities for food and water. Scurvy, of course, broke 
out. Nineteen men died, and thirty more were too ill to 
work. Had not the weather been on the whole fair, they 
would doubtless never again have been heard of. 

But finally, on the Gth of March, they reached the La- 
drone Islands, so named on account of the thievishness of 
the natives; here they got fruit and other food, and the 
worst was over. Ten days later the Philippines were sighted, 
and Magellan knew the extent of his achievement. He had 
sailed roimd the world. The Philippines were on the Span- 
ish side of the Papal Meridian, and he believed (mistakenly) 
that the Moluccas were so likewise. And now, and perhaps 
as well as at any other imaginable time, came, for him, the 
end. In a fight with the natives, the occasion of which is 
unknown, the great sailor was killed. Happier than Colum- 
bus, he did not survive the mightiest exploit of his time. 

Barbosa and Serrano, and thirty other Spaniards, were 
also slain; and the native king Sebu, who had embraced 
Christianity imder the impression that it would give him the 
victory over his hereditary enemj- the king of Matan, now 
renounced it and returned to the gods of his fathers. The 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN Sh 

Burvivors of the massacre set sail, one hundred and fifteen 
out of the original two hundred and eighty; and the "Con- 
cepcion" was destroyed as unseaworthy. Only the "Vic- 
toria" and the "Trinidad" remained to round the Cape of 
Good Hope on the homeward voyage. The "Trinidad" 
met with new misfortunes, and the little "Victoria" alone 
kept on. She reached th^ Cape Verde Islands on July 13th, 
but would have been arrested there by the Portuguese au- 
thorities had she not spread her sails and run for it. Finally, 
on September 6th, she entered the Guadalquivir, with but. 
eighteen survivors of "the greatest feat of navigation that 
has ever been performed ; and nothing can be imagined that 
would surpass it except a journey to some other planet." 
"What a picture — those eighteen sea-worn mariners, in their 
battered craft I what a poem is their story ! what an event 
in the history of mankind! 

What reward did Magellan have? None that mortal 
hands could bestow. He was dead; and his wife* and son 
had also died. Elcano, one of the ship's company, was given 
a crest with the legend on a terrestrial globe, "Primus cir- 
cumdedisti me," together with a pension of five hundred 
ducats; and Espinosa was likewise pensioned and ennobled. 
But every mariner who sails the seas knows the name of 
Magellan, and the story of his exploit ; and mankind accords 
him the honor which Spain could not bestow. Of all the 
great explorers, he is perhaps the one whose character and 
deeds we can contemplate with the most unalloyed satis- 
faction. 

Even yet the true magnitude of the Pacific was not 
comprehended. In 1533 Schoner, the geographer, placed 
Florida and Newfoundland in Asia, and called the city of 
Mexico Quinsay. The longitude of the Moluccas was un- 
certain; some fixed it in one place; others, at a thousand 
miles' distance therefrom. The ' ' Congress of Badajos, ' ' con- 
sisting of geographers and other experts, convened to settle 
the Meridian dispute, but parted after two months' acri- 
monious debate without settling anything. But Charles 



86 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

V. at length cut the Gordian Knot by selling his Molucca 
claim to Portugal for three hundred and fifty thousand gold 
ducats. The Portuguese were in the custom of using the 
African route to their possessions in the East, so that the 
Magellan route was for a long time disused. In fact, 
the firet sailor to revisit the southern extremity of South 
America was Sir Francis Drake, , in 1578, and Cape Horn 
was not doubled until 1616. The voyage across the Pacific 
was held to be too long for practical purposes. Attempts 
were now begun to find a passage by the northwest. This 
search was kept up for more than three centuries, though all 
likely rivers along the American coast-line, south or north, 
were carefully explored in the hope of finding some way 
through. An overland joiu*ney would have shown, of 
course, that the expectation was vain; and such journeys, 
as we shall see, were soon to be made. In 1524, D'Ayllon 
tried the James Kiver and the Chesapeake, and made a 
settlement near the present site of Jamestown. In 1528, 
Montesino went to Venezuela, and was never again heard 
of; it was assumed that the Indians killed him. Qomez, 
and after him Florin, sailed along the North American coasts 
in subsequent years. In 1529, a map was published show- 
ing a sea separated from the Atlantic by only a very narrow 
width of land. In 1536, Agnese's map shears off a great 
breadth of terra firma on the west coast of South America, 
In 1548, Gastaldi made Florida and Mexico parts of Asia, 
after the theory of Orontius. Other maps made other errors, 
and it was evident that imagination would not solve the 
problem. 

In 1528, Narvaez headed an expedition into Mexico; they 
were lost there, and a remnant of them i-eached the mouths 
of the Mississippi, and were afterward handed about by In- 
dians in the wilds of Louisiana and Texas. Finally, they 
came out on the Gulf of California and descended to Cuhacan 
in 1556, after a land journey of two thousand miles. Oortes 
had at this time already explored Lower California. This 
led to further trips into the interior country ; and the legend 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 87 

of the Seven Cities of Antilia was made to do duty for cer- 
tain hypothetical cities in the interior of the continent. It 
became mixed with a Nahuatl story of Seven Caves, whence 
they believed their ancestors had issued. Fray Marco, a 
Franciscan monk of experience in travel, was selected to 
go in quest of these cities. He was accompanied by a negro, 
Estevanico, and some Indians, and they were well received 
by the natives in the early part of their journey. Marco's . 
instructions, sent him by Mendoza, were to the effect that he 
should insist upon the Spaniards treating the Indians well, 
and not subjecting them to slavery; that he should observe 
every precaution in venturing into the interior, avoid all 
personal danger, and that if he arrived at the shore of the 
"Southern Sea" he should cut a cross on the. trunk of some 
conspicuous tree and bury records at the foot of it, for the 
information of coastwise explorers. There was at this time 
a settlement of Spaniards at Culiacan, on the Mexican coast, 
opposite the lower extremity of Lower California ; and it was 
from this place that the expedition took its departure. The 
negro, Estevanico, was one of those who had been with the 
Narvaez party years before. 

They went north toward Sonora. The Indians accom- 
panying them were of the Pima tribe. The party kept as 
near the coast as possible; but, after progressing some four 
hundred miles, halted at Bacapa, near the present Arizona 
boundarj^, and the town of Metape. This was in Easter, 
1539, about a month after the start. Prom Bacapa, Marco 
sent Estevanico forward, with orders to go fifty or sixty 
leagues north, sending him back messengers from time to 
time with information of his progress. With each despatch 
was to be sent a cross of white wood, and the more favor- 
able his progress was, the larger the cross should be. The 
first messenger returned in four days, bearing a cross six 
feet in height, and "telling of such wonderful things that 
I would not believe them unless I saw the things myself," 
says Marco. "The Indian told me that it was thirty days' 
journey from the place where Estevanico was, to the first 



88 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

city of the country, which was called Cibola. He aflfirmeS 
and maintained that this first province contained seven very 
large cities which were all subject to one lord. In them 
were large houses of stone and mortar, the smallest of which 
were one story high, with a terrace, and there were besides 
two and three story buildings. The chief's house was of 
four stories. There were many decorations at the entrance 
of the principal houses, and turquoises, which were very 
plentiful in that country. The people of these cities were 
very well clothed." Marco seems to have had some doubts 
of the negro's veracity ; but when the tales were confirmed 
by Indians from the coast, he determined to set out, and 
two days after Easter he was on his way to the "Seven 
Cities." 

The word Cibola, or words resembling it, are found in 
both the Pima and the Opata languages. In the Idiom 
of the northern Pimas the ruins on the southern bank of 
the Rio Gila, generally known as Casa Grande, are called 
Civano-qi — the house of Civano. Before the coming of the 
Spaniards, the Pimas lived in permanent houses grouped 
in small villages on, the banks' of the middle Gila. Casa 
Grande is the ruins of the best-known of these villages. The 
ruins lie a hundred miles west of San Carlos; and the above 
estimate of *' thirty days' journey" may therefore fit them, 
for the country is mountainous and broken. But the first 
description of Cibola given by the Indians does not fit the 
stairlike style of- building of the pueblos, but such architect- 
are as that of . Casa Grande and elsewhere. The principal 
building of Casa Grande is not stone, but adobe; three 
stories" are still visible, and smaller houses of one story are 
scattered about. Similar buildings existed in Sonora, of 
which the Jesuit de Ribas wrote, "Their houses were better 
and more solidly built than those of other nations, for the 
walls consisted of large air-dried bricks of clay, with flat 
roofs and balconies. Some they built much larger, and 
^ith loopholes, in order to take refuge in them as in a for- 
^ess 1^. case of a hostile attack, and to defend themselves 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 89 

with bows and arrows," Such a place seems to have been 
Casa Grande. 

But at the time of the expedition of Marco, Casa Grande 
must; have been a ruin; yet the reports which Estevanico 
sent referred to a still-inhabited Indian settlement. Mr. 
Bandelier made a journey to the region a few years ago to 
resolve this difficulty. He found that none of the so-called 
pueblos corresponds with what is known to us of Cibola. 
Therefore he concludes that Cibola should be looked for to 
the north, either in Arizona or New Mexico. All this region 
was in the sixteenth century controlled by a single linguistic 
stock — that of the Apaches. But the Apaches being a wan- 
dering tribe, which builds huts of branches plastered with 
mud, gives no color to the story of such a place as Cibola. 
The areas further east were uninhabited. But about thirty 
miles from the borders of Arizona a small river flowing from 
east to west enters a.wide and treeless intervale, fifteen miles 
long and not more than twelve miles wide. This is the plain 
of Zuni. On the southeastern side rises an isolated table 
mountain to a height of over a thousand feet; and rocks 
everywhere stand wall-like over the valley and only a few 
dizzy paths lead to the summit. Similar colossal rocks tower 
upon the north side. The name of Zuni belongs to the idiom 
of the Queres of the Rio Grande. The Zuiiis call themselves 
Shiuano, which bears analogy to Cibola. But Marco's ac- 
count is deficient in geographical data; it does not specify 
the number of the rivers, or their volume, nor .does it afford 
particulars concerning the inhabitants. It is possible that 
he continued always within the territory of the Pimas. 
Estevanico kept sending back the cross signs, thus encour- 
aging the monk to keep on, and the natives described Cibola 
in ever more brilliant colors. They spoke of provinces, cities 
and kingdoms; told of green stones that adorned the door- 
posts of houses, of skins of a large cow-like animal; and 
altogether gave the impression that there was a great and 
thriving settlement ahead. Estevanico, meanwhile, was 
making a reputation for himself as a medicine-man, by dint 



90 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMEKICA 

of a arouril-rattle that he carried; but he was imprudent in 
his eagerness for pre^^'ious metals aud greeu stoues, and 
in the requisitions he made for women. But he obtained 
numerous guides aud leaders, and his progress was rapid. 

Having eivssed the Gila, Mareo found himself entering 
}VQ iminhabiteti country, beyond which lay Cibola. * By mid- 
summer, the Indians assuretl him that his goid was but a 
few days distjuit. But immediately after Indians who had 
been with Estevauico came running into camp, >vith tattered 
garments and evidences of fatigue and st^arvatiou. Some 
serious CiU:unity had occurred. The people of Cibola had 
killed the negro, and were even now approaching Nvith hos- 
tile intent. Marco questioned the fugitives as to what they 
had seen in Cibola, imd they coutirmed what he had already 
heiu\i of it. They said the city in which tJie negro had been 
killed Wi\s only one, and not the most populous, of the seven 
cities. Marco determined to steal forward with a few at- 
tendants to some place where he could see with his ovm eyes 
what manner of place it truly was. He reached a liiU 
whence they could look down into a valley where lay sev- 
eral villjtges, with unusually large houses of several stories, 
built of clay and stone. The nearest village, seeming as 
larg'e as the city of Mexico, was pointed out as that in which 
tlie negro had been killetl. The inhabitants appeared to be 
clad in cotton. After setting up a cross on the spot where 
he hmi made these ol>servations, Marco returned to his camp, 
and the ivtreat wtis forth^vitli l>egun. He arrived in Culia- 
Civn Sept4?mber*^, 1539, and sent his report to tlie viceroy. 

Doubts have been expressed as to whether Marco ever 
really Siiw what he describes. No one had ever come upon 
any ti-aditdon funong tiie Indians of such a march as Marco 
made, or of the de^th of the negro, until, in 18S4, Mr. Gush- 
ing, after several years' residence among the Zuiiis, found 
traces of a story which may refer to Marco's expedition. 
The Zuiiis told him that a "Wack Me^can" had once come 
to O'aquima and had l>eeu hospitably received; but he soon 
incurretl mort-ivl hatred bv liis l>ehavior to\\'ard the women 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 91 

aiul girls of the pueblo, and the men had finally killed him. 
This is important evidence. The hill from wliich Marco says 
that he looked down on Cibola could have been nowhere but 
in the southern border of the Zuiii plain, for it is only from 
there that the pueblo of O'^aquima can be seen, at a distance 
of about two miles. And on this hill, till a few years ago, 
were visible the remains of a wooden cross. Mr. Gushing 
also discovered that the openings in the roofs of the houses 
in Zuiii used formerly to be decorated with green stones, 
such as malachite, and turquoise. Some of the names of 
kingdoms and provinces which Marco gives have also been 
identified by Gushing. Upon the whole, therefore, it seems 
reasonable to conclude that Marco gave a true report of his 
adventures, and that they occurred in the valley of the Zuni. 
At all events, his story satisfied Mendoza that the matter 
was worth following up, and he organized a new expedition, 
to the leadership of which he appointed Francisco Vasquez 
Coronado. 

This expedition had the bulk and power of an army ; it 
comprised three hundred Spaniards and eight hundred In- 
dians. They visited the Zuni and Moqui pueblos, discovered 
the Ganon of the Golorado, and penetrated as far north as to 
Quivira, as to the site of which there is some doubt. But 
wherever it was, it disappointed its discoverers, who had 
expected a splendid city, and found only a village of wig- 
wams. Making headquarters here, parties were sent out 
in all directions ; but nothing worth noting was found ; and 
in 1542 the army marched back to the Spanish settlement 
whence they had set out in Mexico, with hard feelings against 
Marco, who had inveigled them into working so hard for no 
profit. But Marco was not to blame; he did not make 
America, and merely told his impressions of what he saw, 
which the ardent imagination of his countrymen, insatiable 
for gold, had colored to suit their hopes. 

Coronado, indeed, had offered to undertake the expedition 
at his own expense. He was then a young man, though he 
had filled important offices in Mexico. Mendoza agreed to 



93 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

despatch a contemporary expedition by sea from Natividad, 
to explore the northern coast and the interior of the Cali- 
fornia gulf, keeping in touch with Coronado's expedition hy 
land. The cost of the two expeditions amounted to what, 
in present money values, would be some two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. For this sum, Coronado went in debt ; 
Mendoza limited his co-operation in thernatter to appointing 
the higher officers. Meanwhile, a supplementary expedition 
under Captain Melchior Diaz was sent over the trail made 
by Marco, with orders to get as near as possible to Cibola. 
But Diaz did not get further than the borders of that unin- 
habited region, on the further side of which lay the Seven 
Cities. The name of the place where he halted is translated 
as "Red House." It is described as being over two hundred 
miles south of Cibola, This has been identified with the 
ruins of Casa Grande ; but, according to Mr. Bandelier, with- 
out due foundation. He concludes, by a process of exclu- 
sion, that the Red House was situated in the southeastern 
corner of Arizona, and within a quadrangle which is bounded 
on the east by New Mexico, on the west by the Rio San 
Pedro, on the south by Sonora, and on the north by the 
Gila River. 

As to Coronado, after reaching Culiacan, he divided his 
force, and with a small party set out toward the north. He 
moved rapidly through the valley of the Sonora River, his 
relations with the natives being amicable. His precise course 
is not certainly ascertained ; but in due time he arrived at 
what was doubtless the plain of Zuni. At Cibola he arrived 
on the 12th of July. The inhabitants of the towns were 
assembled to prevent his further passage, and returned a 
threatening reply to his friendly messages. But the Indians 
fled from the charge of the Spanish horse, and the pueblo 
was captured in an hour. Thus, with about a fifth part 
of the forces which he had raised, Coronado conquered the 
Seven Cities of Cibola. But when the value of their prize 
came to be examined, it was found to be not worth the 
sweat, still less the blood, which it had cost. Marco, who 




SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS 



Spanish America. 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 93 

had accompanied the expedition, was in danger of his life 
from the Spanish soldiers; he returned with the messenger 
whom Coronado sent back, and died in Mexico in 1558. 
While these things were going on, Maldonado, who wa^ 
in command of a part of the bulk of the army, went down 
to the coast to look up the ships, but failed to find them. 
Two hundred and seventy men in all went forward to join 
Coronado, and it was with this force that his subsequent 
operations were conducted. Diaz, who had been left with 
the rearguard, took twenty-six men and discovered the 
great Colorado River, but no details of his adventure are 
forthcoming. 

Coronado had to do something, and the accounts he re- 
ceived from the country further north made him hope that 
perhaps the wealth he had missed in Cibola might await 
him there. The consequenoe of this persuasion was the 
exploration of New Mexico. Alvarado was sent forward 
to the Pecos country, where he met a strange Indian whom 
the Spaniards called a "Turk" on account of his strange 
appearance. He was a native of the Mississippi Valley; 
and he informed the Spaniards that gold was to be found 
in abundance toward the east. Alvarado communicated 
this news to his commander; but in the sequel it proved 
false; and the "Turk" had perhaps given it out in order 
to secure his own return to his native country. Still, it is 
possible that he may have told what he meant to be sub- 
stantially the truth, but the Spaniards misunderstood him. 
Through his means, Coronado became embroiled with the 
Tigua Indians, and lost several men and horses in the Httle 
war which followed. In return, he massacred the prisoners 
whom he captured in the pueblos. His situation became in 
consequence somewhat critical; but he managed to retain 
the friendship of the Pecos. He continued his explorations 
of central New Mexico, but his attention was fixed upon the 
east. New Mexico, whatever might be its possibilities under 
systematic development, was evidently not likely to afford 
any immediate returns; while the "Turk" continued to talk 



94 HISTORY OF SPANISH A.MEEICA 

of a river six miles wide, with fish as large as a horse, and 
of canoes with forty rowers, their bows adorned with gold, 
and he declared that the vessels of that country Avere made 
of silver and gold. Qiiivira, he said, was. the headquarters 
of all these riches, and he offered to conduct the Spaniards 
thither. Coronado accepted his otfer. 

It was in May, loil, that the Spaniards began their 
march. But they had to pass over boimdless plains, with 
no landmarks; and what happens to individual travellers 
in such cireimistauces happened to them ; they described a 
wide circle, and after several months' toil found themselves 
back iit the point whence they started. On this journey 
they saw for ths first time herds of butfalo. It was seven- 
teen days after leaving the Pecos that they came upon the 
Indians of the plains, living in tents of bufialo hide and 
dressing in the same; probably these were Apaches. They 
could give no information of Quivira. Further along an- 
other t^ibe was encountered, perhaps Utes. They had some- 
thing to tell of Quivira, but knew nothing of the gold and 
other riches which the Tiu-k had described. The Turk fi- 
nally admitted that he had Ued about the stone houses, but 
adhei>?d to his assertion concerning the gold. He was put in 
chains, and continued the march in that condition. Thii"st 
attacked the expedition: men were daily lost by wandering 
from the camp ; and Qui"s*ira, according to the Indians, was 
still forty days distant. Coronado, however, was unwilhng 
to turn back without having made a final elf ort to find the 
place, and leaving the bulk of his command behind, he, with 
some thirty horsemen, set forward in the specified dii*ection. 
The Turk accompanied him. Arrelauo was left in charge 
of the main body; but after fifteen days he began a reti-eat. 
Meanwhile Coronado went directly north for thii-ty days, 
until they came to a river which seems to have been the- 
Arkansas, at the point called the Great Bend. This would 
indicate that Quivira must have been about a hundred miles 
north of the Arkansas. Coronado arrived there on the *-ilst 
of August. "'I had been told," he says, "that the houses 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 95 

were made of stone and several storeyed ; they are only made 
of straw, and the inhabitants are as savage as any I have 
seen. They have no clothes, nor cotton to make them of; 
they simply tan the hides of cows which they hunt, and 
which pasture around their village. " There were no signs 
of gold or silver; only a few iron pyrites and bits of copper. 
The Turk now confessed that the Pueblo Indians had en- 
gaged him to draw the Spaniards into the plains, that they 
might perish there. He attempted to stir up the people of 
Quivira against the Spaniards; upon which the latter seized 
and hanged him. Such was the end of this singular and still 
somewhat questionable being. 

Coronado found the country of Quivira fertile; but win- 
ter was at hand, and. he must retreat. They accomplished 
the return journey without accident in forty days, reach- 
ing the Pecos Valley late in October. Thence Coronado 
continued on to Bernahllo, whence he wrote his report 
to Charles V. 

In spite of his account of the failure to find gold, the 
Spaniards could not believe but that wealth lay somewhere 
in the further interior; and a new expedition, not entirely 
to Coronado's satisfaction, was planned in that direction. 
But shortly before it was ready to start, Coronado was in- 
jured while jousting, by a fall from his horse; and before 
he had recovered, news came of the massacre of a nearby 
Spanish settlement. Coronado now wished to return to 
Mexico, and, though not without disagreements, it was 
finally decided to do so. • A few priests only, desirous of 
winning souls rather than gold, were left behind. Of these, 
Fray Juan de Padilla was afterward murdered by the In- 
dians, and joined the army of martyrs. Coronado, who 
seems to have lost the power of command which had dis- 
tinguished him before his accident, moved constantly south- 
ward, suffering from Indian attacks, and from internal quar- 
rels. By the time Mexico was reached, hardly a hundred 
soldiers remained with their leader ; all the rest had either 
been killed or had dropped away. Mendoza received Coro- 



^6 HISTOEY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

nado witli hard words, and the latter retired to Cuernavaca, 
and there died in retirement. It was a sad ending of a ca- 
reer which had opened hrilliantly. "The conception which 
has been formed of Coronado as a wicked adventurer is un- 
just," says Bandeher. "Equally wrong and unfoimded are 
the accusations which Mendoza formulated against him, and 
on the ground of which he treated the knight so severely. 
The following are the reasons which are assigned by which 
the action of the viceroy was determined; first, while Alar- 
con wi'ote with the fullest detail in his reports, the letters ol 
Coronado were short, and therefore unsatisfactory; second, 
Coronado also wrote directly to the emperor and king 
(Charles V.), which the ^aceroj^ considered a presumption 
on his part, and even as bordering on treason; third, his 
evacuation of New Mexico and return seemed at least a 
gross violation of duty, for it was ascribed to disobedience, 
incapacity, and cowardice. But Mendoza understood none 
of the conditions; with all the traits for which he was dis- 
tinguished, he was first of all a European oflScer, who, how- 
ever ably he could direct from his desk, had no comprehen- 
sion of American camp-life. . . . Respecting the evacuation 
of New Mexico, there was no cowardice. Coronado's words, 
and the result of the expedition to Quivira, with homesick- 
ness and a weakened bodily condition, probably contributed 
much to a discouragement which was based on the convic- 
tion that the country was not worth the effort which its 
control would cost." It may be added that it has always 
been the policy of Spain to cast the blame for inevitable 
misfortunes on the men whom she had put forward to 
carry out impossible schemes. And when we consider 
what might have been the results to the continent had the 
Spaniards found it expedient to continue the conquest of the 
northern parts of America, we may believe that it was a 
beneficent Providence which prevented Coronado from obey- 
ing the wishes of his superior. It is true, nevertheless, that 
the legend of Quivira continued for a long time to exercise 
fascination over the Spanish mind, and other expeditions 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 97 

were sent out from time to time, with no better success 
than that of Coronado. Spanish missions gradually were 
scattered over the southwestern country, and Spaniards 
thmly settled the great expanses; but the gold which they 
sought was hidden from them, and not until after our Mexi- 
can war did the discovery of the precious metal in California 
prove that the wildest dreams of the Spaniards were sur- 
passed by the actual facts. There was no golden city of 
Quivira, and no wealthy Seven Cities of Cibola; but undei 
the soil of that western land lay concealed such riches as 
would have made Spain the terror and tyrant of the world 
instead of lapsing, as she has done, into the lowest place in 
the scale of European nations. 

In tracing the course of the Spaniards north of the Gulf 
of Mexico and westward to the Pacific, we have far outrun 
the chronological sequence of our history; but before turn- 
ing back to consider the conquests of Mexico and Peru, and 
the occupation of the Central American region, we' will 
briefly follow the progress of events in the peninsula of 
Florida. In 1537, Fernando de Soto, who had already 
served m Peru under Pizarro (as we shall see hereafter) 
was made governor of Cuba, and two years afterward he set 
out, with nine ships, containing five hundred and seventy 
men and two hundred and twenty-three horses, to conquer 
and occupy the country under the patent of Narvaez He 
landed near the bay of Juan Ponce, and marched in a 
northerly direction, through the region now occupied by 
the States of Alabama and Georgia, toward the Savannah 
River. Thence he turned westward, finding no gold, but 
plenty of hostile Indians. JS^ear Mobile, in 1541, he lost 
one hundred and seventy men in a fight. He wintered on 
the Yazoo River in Mississippi, crossing the Mississippi 
River in the spring, and going up its western bank for 
some distance. Finding nothing, he turned south again, 
and De Soto died in May and was buried in the river His 
men coasted along the shores of the gulf, reaching Tampico, 
about three hundred strong, in September, 1M3. Three 



9b HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

years later, an attempt by Barlxistix) to found a missiouary 
settlement in Florida resulted in a mi\ssacre by the Indians. 
Others renewed the effort with little better success; and in 
1561, Philip II. announced that there must be no further 
attempts to colonize that country. Nevertheless, the Span- 
iards were compelled to reconsider this decision by the atti- 
tude of the French. Coligny, in 1555, sent out a Protestant 
colony under YUlegagnou to Brazil, which landed at Rio de 
Janeiro, and was reinforced two years later. But internal 
dissensions ruined the*enterprise, and the Portuguese slaugh- 
tered the remnant of the colonists. Coligny now decided to 
try the coast of Florida, and in 156'^ Ribaut, a Huguenot, 
came to the St. John's River, and finally settled at Port 
Royal. The Indians were at firet friendly, and supplied 
them with food, and Ribaut went back to France for more 
settlers, leaving thirty men in the fort. The Indians ceased 
after a while to feed them, they mutinied, and killed their 
commander; and, after much suffering, built a boat and set 
out for France. They ran out of provisions, and had eaten 
one of their own number before they were picked up by an 
English vessel. In spite of these discouragements, a new 
expedition started in 1563, under Laudonniere, a kinsman 
of Coligny, This colony was large and well supplied. But 
thei-e were no farmers in the company, though there were 
plenty of aristocrats and some mechanics. They built a fort 
at the mouth of tlje St. John's, and called it Fort Caroline. 
They -searched for gold, intrigued with Indian chiefe, be- 
came mutinous, and at last took to buccaneering. Some 
of them were captured by Spaniards and taken to HaTana, 
where they revealed the existence of the Fort Caroline sefc- 
tlement. Menendez, a typical Spanish butcher, was sent 
by Philip II. to uproot these heretical interlopers, though 
there was at that time peace between France and ^lain. 
He left Cadiz with eleven ships and over one thousand xnen. 
Before he could reach Fort Caroline, however, Ribaut got 
there with seven ships, three hundred men, and supplies. 
A week afterward appeared Meneudesi with his fleet, or Avitli 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 99 

what was left of it, for several ships had been wrecked. The 
Spaniard decided not to risk an attack at once, and went 
down the coast to St. Augustine. His presence there being 
communicated to the French, they sent their whole fleet after 
him to surprise him; but a storm arose, and before it sub- 
sided all the ships had been wrecked. Meanwhile, Menendez 
assumed the offensive; he made a forced march along the 
coast with five hundred cutthroats, and, in spite of a furious 
storm, forced his way through swamp and forest, for two 
and seventy hours, till the fort lay before him. In the dim 
of the rainy dawn, down upon it they came ; the defences 
were too weak to withstand them, and though Laudonniere 
and a few others escaped, one hundred and forty-two men, 
women and children were slaughtered in cold blood on the 
spot. Meanwhile two hundred survivors of Ribaut's ship- 
wrecked crews collected on the beach, and marched for the 
fort. Menendez spoke them fair, inveigled them across the 
river, told them that the fort had been captured, and pre- 
vailed on them to surrender. Having delivered up their 
arms upon promise of clemency, they were led out behind a 
sand-hill, and all murdered. A few days later came Ribaut 
himself with the remainder of his men, one hundred and fifty 
of whom were seduced to their death in the same way, Ribaut 
among them ; the others took to the woods. The survivors, 
or some of them, returned to France and told their story; 
Menendez told his to King Philip, and the two were substan- 
tially the same. Philip thanked and rewarded his butcher, 
only blaming him for having been too humane. It is from 
examples hke these that the Spanish captains of to-day learn 
their trade. The river or inlet where the massacre occurred 
was called Matanzas, which in Spanish means Slaughtering. 
There were no further attempts to colonize Florida with 
Huguenots. But the incident did not go entirely unavenged, 
though it was a private gentleman, and not the French gov- 
ernment, who inflicted the punishment. 

Dominique de Gourgues was a Gascon gentleman of dis- 
tinction in the wars ; he bore a grudge against Spaniards. 

L.ofC. 



100 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

owing to their having at one time made him a galley-slave. 
When he heard of the massacre by Menendez, he bethought 
himself that here was a good opportunity to pay oflf his own 
score and that of France at the same time. He raised what 
money he could by selling and borrowing, bought three ships, 
and with two hundred men sailed, fii-st, on a slave-hunting 
expedition to the Guinea coast. This was a feint on his 
pai-t. It was not until he was near Cuba with his cargo 
that he acquainted his men with the true purpose he had in 
\new; which they indorsed with enthusiasm. They anchored 
off the Florida coast a few miles above the fort; and were re- 
ceived by the Indians, who had become hostile to Menendez, 
with dehght ; and Gourgues found himself with so large a 
force at his disposal that he resolved to put his little plan in 
execution at once. The Spaniards, little thinking that there 
was an enemy within three thousand miles of them, were 
taking things easy, in child-like confidence. There were 
four hundred of them. At noon, having finished their din- 
ner, they were expanding themselves as good men wiU after 
having done their duty by their stomachs, when suddenly, 
from all sides at once, at them came shouting and shooting 
innumerable Indians and, terrible to behold! — Frenchmen I 
"Wild panic followed, amid which the enemy poured over 
the fortifications, killing as they came. Not a man escaped 
alive except some fifteen, who were reserved by Gourgues 
for a bonne bouche. He conducted them to certain trees, 
on which, after the Menendez massacre, sundry surviving 
French prisoners had been hanged, with an inscription above 
them, "Not as to Frenchmen, but as to Lutherans." "While 
his followers were tying slip-knots in fifteen ropes, the worthy 
Gascon talked severely to his captives, pointing out the errors 
of which they had been guilty ; then the rape collars were 
fitted snugly to the Spanish necks, and at the word of com- 
mand upward into the air they all rose, sprawling amain. 
The trees bowed under their welcome fruit; and over the 
heads of the now quiescent warriors the Frenchman aflixed 
a shingle bearing the legend, "Not as to Spaniards, but as 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 101 

to liars and murderers. ' ' The affair would have been poeti- 
cally oerf ect but for one omission — Menendez himself was not 
among the danglers. He had gone back to Spain on a visit, 
and did not return till two years later, when he rebuilt his 
fort and, as Professor Fiske has it, went on "converting the 
Indians. " But the Spaniards never tried to go beyond Florida 
in their subsequent American settlements. 

With the French and English exploring achievements on 
the North Atlantic coasts, and up the shores of California 
and Oregon; and with the discovery by Bering the Dane 
of the Strait between Alaska and Siberia which bears his 
name; and with the settlement of the Mississippi Valley, 
we have nothing to do in this history. It was these things 
which finally, after the doubts of two centuries, determined 
America to be a distinct continent. But Spain kept to the 
south ; the northern regions were spared from her pernicious 
influence. Up to 1570 her colonizing energy was unremit- 
ting; but after that date she undertook to supplement the 
work of massacre and robbery in America, by destroying 
the liberties of man in Europe; and her preoccupation with 
the United Netherlands forced her to relinquish her godly 
efforts in the New World. The French seized Hispaniolai, 
the English, Jamaica, and other West Indian islands were 
otherwise distributed. The long struggle with the Nether- 
lands ended with the defeat of Spain; but all these reverses 
failed to teach the Spaniards civilization. They had been a 
rude and semi-barbarous people before the Moors conquered 
them in the eighth century; and the eight hundred years 
of desultory warfare which followed made them a nation 
of instinctive murderers and robbers. The Catholic re- 
ligion became in their hands a pretext for further indul- 
gence in these characteristic practices. Labor and industry 
were almost unknown in the peninsula. Their isolated po- 
sition prevented the refining influences of the rest of Europe 
from reaching them. The destruction of the Armada 
by England, in 1588, was the beginning of the ruin of 
Spain. Portugal had been subjected to Spain some years 



103 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

before this, and the Dutch, who wei*e at war with Spain, 
were consequently free to attack the Portuguese colonies in 
the East Indies, and to take possession of the best of them. 
The expulsion from Spain of the only decent and industrious 
classes there — the Moriscoes and Jews — additionally injured 
the doomed nation, making impossible the recuperation which 
might otherwise have set in. The Inquisition burned at the 
stake about eight hundred persons a year, for three hundred 
years. As Professor Fiske remarks, "We sometimes hear it 
said that persecution cannot kill a good cause, but that 'the 
blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.' This is apt 
to be ti'ue, because it is seldom that sufficient unanimity of 
public opinion is enlisted in support of persecution to make 
it thorough. It was not true in Spain. The Inquisition 
there did suppress free thought most effectually. It was 
a machine for winnowing out and destroying all such in- 
dividuals as surpassed the average in quickness of wit, ear- 
nestness of purpose, and strength of character, in so far as 
to entertain opinions of their own and boldly declare them. 
The more closely people approached an elevated standard 
of intelligence and moral courage, the more likely was the 
machine to reach them. It worked with such fiendish effi- 
ciency that it was next to impossible for such people to 
escape it; they were strangled and burned bj'^ tens of thou- 
sands, and as the inevitable result, the average character of 
the Spanish people .was lowered. The brightest and boldest 
were cut off in their early prime, while duller and weaker 
ones were spared to propagate the race ; until the Spaniard 
of the eighteenth century was a much less intelligent and 
less enterprising person than the Spaniard of the sixteenth. 
Ideas and methods which other nations were devising to 
meet the new exigencies of modern life were denied admis- 
sion to this unfortunate country. Spain was soon left be- 
hind by nations in which the popular intelligence was more 
flexibly wielded. It was not in religious matters only, but 
in all the affairs of life. Amid the general stagnation, the 
stream of gold and silver poured into Spain from the New 



THE CABOTS, VESPUCIUS, AND MAGELLAN 103 

World did more harm than good, inasmuch as its chief effect 
was to diminish the purchasing power of the precious metals, 
Spanish expenditure was not productive but unproductive, 
and not simply unproductive but destructive. It was devoted 
to checking the activities of the human mind, to doing pre- 
cisely the reverse of what we are trying to do in these days 
with books and jiewspapers, schools and lectures, copyrights 
and patents. . . . When we contrast the elastic buoy- 
ancy of spirit in Shakespeare's England with the gloom and 
heaviness that were then creeping over Spain, we find noth- 
ing strange in the fact that the most populous and powerful 
nations of the New World speak English and not Spanish. 
Not the least interesting circumstance connected with the 
discovery of this broad continent is the fact that the struggle 
for the possession of it has revealed the superior vitality of 
institutions and methods that first came to maturity in 
England and now seem destined to shape the future of 
the world." 

Recent events have but added weight to the Professor's 
judgments. Spain no longer exists in the Western Hemi- 
sphere; and with her departure begins the era of hope and 
progress for the colonies which she created and cursed. 
Whether they will be able to work out their salvation re- 
mains to be proved. So far, it must be admitted that the 
signs of success are few and doubtful. The Spanish- Ameri- 
can peoples are still men of Spanish blood; this strain has 
been admixed with negro and Indian races; but though 
these are superior, in themselves, to the Spanish, they seem 
to have suffered from the mingling. The little nations of the 
Isthmus and of South America grasp at the name of liberty 
and independence, but all they have so far obtained (with 
insignificant and temporary exceptions) has been tyranny 
and license. Perhaps the best sign of all is, that the breed 
does not seem to increase, and may gradually die out, and 
leave its inheritance to men who will know how to ad- 
minister it wisely and profitably. "The horse is his who 
rides it." 



104 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

"We are now to turn back on our tracks, and recount tlie 
events which domiciled the Spaniards in the New "World, 
and ushered in her colonial empire. TVe left her beginning: 
the wholesale massacres of the natives of the AVest India 
islands, and groping along the coasts for gold. Adventures 
occurred, and adventurers played their parts, in a manner 
which yields brilliant and dramatic materijil for the histo- 
rian, and affords a useful lesson in the science of what to 
avoid. There is little danger, indeed, that any nation here- 
after will be tempted to follow the example of Spain ; but 
the story of great crimes may serve to warn the unwary 
from the commission of the little ones which belong to the 
same family, and might possibly bloom unawares into a 
dnister and rank luxuritince. 



PARI II 



THE AGE OF CORTES 

THE most conspicuous and one of the typical acts of 
Spain in the New World was the conquest of Mexico 
by Cortes. When we have mastered what is known 
about that — and the information is voluminous and particu- 
lar — we have little to learn as to the mutual relations and 
conduct of the two races involved. The Mexican Aztecs 
were the most powerful and advanced people in America at 
that time, and their subjugation by the conquerors brings 
out every feature of significance that belongs to any of the . 
contests between Europeans and barbarians in that age, and 
many, of course, which are lacking in the narratives of wais 
with less powerful American races. 

Something has already been said about the kind of civili- 
zation practiced by the Aztecs in the sixteenth century. In 
Mexico, as elsewhere among American Indians, the tribe was 
the political integer. The tribe was composed of clans and 
phratries. But there was none of that coalescence of the com- 
munity which obtains in European civilized nations. Aztec 
clans lived in precincts, or adjacent communal houses. Land 
was in common ; there was no real estate, but mere occupancy. 
Government was carried on by councils named by the clans, 
and above these councils was the grand tribal council com- 
posed of delegates from the clans. Two executive chiefs, a 
head war-chief and a tribal sachem, were in the position of 
rulers of the tribe, and when the Spaniards came, they re- 
garded the then head war-chief, Montezuma II., as the king 
or emperor of the Aztecs. This was not precisely accurate, 

(105) 



106 HISIVKY OK {SPANISH AMEIUCA 

because there wa*; uo AzteciUi empire iu the sense of Kiiro- 
pejm eiupireiS, and the he^^d wi\r-ohief, or Chief -of -men, did 
not possess precisely the ^x^wer, or exennse all the funotions, 
of a king. But the dift'eieuoes do not seem so vital as some 
modern ec»mmentators tTV to make us believe. The Mexican 
chief was not supposoii to be divinely destined to the throne; 
he could be depostnl f».>r cause, jmd though he was military 
leader in war, and het^d priest i\t all times, he was not the 
maker of la^^-s and imj.x>ser of taxes. Some principle of 
succession seems to have been observed in the choice of the 
Chief -of-men, but it was not the principle of heredity, as iu 
Eur^t^^e. The pnictice of exogamy would of itself bar such 
a s^'^tem. But one or other of four olhcijUs, three phratry 
captains and a priest, were liable to assume the reins of 
j.xnver upon the de;\th or dep«.\^itiou of the ivigtiing chief. 
One result of this Mexican system was, that the capture or 
killing of the Chief by an enemy would not cripple the ex:ecu- 
tive functions of government as it might do under a differ- 
ent jvrrtuigement. Cortes discovered this fact by experience 
before he had got the final mastery over the inhabitants of 
Mexico. 

There was no regular taxation of the inhabitants of the 
couutxy under Aztecan dominion; but men were sent out 
periodicivlly to collect tribute from Pueblos which had been 
worsted in bt^ttle by the confeileration of Aztec tribes. Thoy 
got tvs much tribute as they could; sometimes more, some- 
times less; or if the payei*s of tribute declined to liquidate 
the claims made ui.K>n them, the cvnifederacy swoo^>ed down 
on them and slaughtered them, reserving prisoners enough 
t<) feetl their sacrificijil altai^s. Consequently, it would have 
been very difficult for an Aztec chancellor of the exchequer 
to make up a tiuancial budget for an ensuing year. There 
was a romantic uncertainty about the trnancial future ; but 
upon the whole they might reasonably calculate ujx^n mak- 
ing the ends meet on the average. And incidentally there 
would be enough ''life" — ivnd detith — going onto keep things 
interesting. 



THE AGE OF CORTES 107 

Among the AztocB at the time of the Conquest, descent 
in the male line was recognized, though in the opinion of 
students it had heon introduced but a short time, and was 
in the feeble state which belongs to infancy. But the wife 
was now regarded as the personal jiroperty of her husband. 
There does not , seem to have been much of what we call 
love-making, as a preliminary to marriage, however; con- 
jugal unions were arranged by the clan; and no man or 
w(^man of a tribe was peimittod, under penalties, to remain 
unwed. Infidelity was punished. Thus the family was 
fairly started as an institution in Mexico, and that, and 
the further development of real kingship, and of empire, 
would no doubt have been finally worked out by the Aztecs, 
had not Cortes put a stop to all natural development by his 
sanguinary proceedings. And inasmuch as a wife, in a 
house, is pretty certain to acquire a conception of the prin- 
ciple of private ownership in things — household things to 
begin with — it is probable that the communistic idea would 
gradually have given way to that of individual property 
holding. But the sword of Spain cut all this growing or- 
ganization asunder, and destroyed it forever. 

Concerning the political history of Mexico in the pre- 
Columbian ages we cannot dogmatize successfully. Strenu- 
ous and even violent efforts are made by strict evolutionists 
to crush down the persistent suspicion that there may be some 
direct relation between Asia and Mexico of which, though 
there is no positive evidence, traditions may be found in 
abundance. This suspicion is based upon the architectural 
and other remains which have been unearthed from time to 
time in Mexico and Yucatan, and in other places as well; 
for these bear more or less apparent kinship to ancient ruins 
in Asia; and again, they seem quite unaccountable if we 
regard the present races inhabiting these regions as direct 
descendants of the ancient builders. No modern Indian of 
Central America could construct such works as we find in 
the old tropic forests ; and when asked concerning these, the 
reply is that they were the work of some former race, now 



lOS HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

raiiishetl : but wlioueo that race came, or how long- ag'o they 
were iu their prime, there is none to declare. Unless, then, 
we suppose that such a race tlid exist and vanish, we are 
driven to assume that the present Indians must be the pos- 
terity of the builders, and have forgotten all alxnit it. That 
is the evolutionists' position; and it is not devoid of awk- 
wardness. It is not a matter of common experience that 
men who could erect such building-s as, those of Uxmal, for 
example, should suddenly lose not only the knowledge and 
skill which Uxmal implies, but also all recollection that such 
science ever had been exercised by them. It certainly does 
not seem more difficult to imagine that these buildei-s came 
from afar, and in the course of many ages disappeared, as 
powerful races will, give them only time enough. The simi- 
larity which mideniably exists between these American ruins 
and some t^'j^es of Asiatic architecture adds plausibility io 
this "siew. Besides, remains of a similar kmd are found on 
Pacific islands between Asia and America, and of these, too, 
there is no explanation; the natives of the islands in question 
can give no account of them, and are quite incapable of con- 
structing the like themselves. How sliall this gap between 
the ancient and the more recent be bridged ovei*? "We must 
be credulous one or the other waj* — either with the evolution' 
ists or against them. And since the latter coui*se involves 
by far the more I'omautic possibilities, to say nothing more 
of it, it will always receive the wider popular support, until 
or unless definite and irrefragable testimony is forthcoming 
to disprove it. 

Leaving these interesting matters to one side, let us re- 
mark that Mexican history as accepted by conservative his- 
torians begins in the first quarter of the fourteenth century. 
Of coui-se even the latter concede that events of gi-eat mo- 
ment must have happened before that: but who is to disen- 
tiingle mere poetic tradition from the annals of reality? Here 
is a country, and here is a people; how did they come together, 
and what was their mutual eii'ect upon each other? It is sup- 
posed that the Mexican plateau may have been occupied as 



THE AGE OP CORTES 109 

early as the seventh century by tribes of the Nahua group. 
The country was called Anahuac; but the name is said to 
mean, merely, land contiguous to water ; in this case, a lake 
country. The Nahuas are supposed to have been in various 
stages of barbarism or even savagery; but, domiciled in 
those limited and fertile valleys, they multiplied and throve, 
learned horticulture and other kinds of culture, and built 
houses of ever-increasing solidity and architectural preten- 
sion. We are further told that "Toltec" means Builder; 
and these ISTahuas thus got the name of Builders, or Tol- 
tecs, par excellence; and their domain came to be called, 
by people who knew no better, the Toltec Empire. The 
headquarters of these more or less discredited Toltecs seems 
to have been, upon a time, at a place called ToUan, near the 
present town of Tula, which is about forty miles northwest 
from Mexico City. It was on one of the old roads or Indian 
trails from North to South — a sort of natural gateway, im- 
portant as a defensive position, and presumably occupied for 
that reason. The occupation may have taken place in the 
seventh century; the story being that the Toltecs arrived 
there from a northern region known as Huehuetlapallan. 
After settling there, they were ruled over by a line of six 
or seven kings (so called) ; and it was during this time that 
they built the pyramid of Chblula, the pueblo or city of 
Teotihuacan, and other places. After about four hundred 
years, their power was overthrown, and they migrated in a 
southerly direction, and disappeared; but, about the same 
period, what is termed the Maya empire rose to prominence 
in Yucatan ; and the inference is natural that the Toltecs 
were identical with the Mayas. Obviously there ought to 
be a great deal more than this to learn about the Toltecs ; 
but .that is all we know. Their language, if they had a 
separate language, is totally lost. Perhaps if we knew the 
key to the Aztec picture-writing we might be in a better 
position for guessing, if nothing more; but the ingenuity 
of students still halts baffled before these monuments, and 
there is nothing for it but to be patient, and remember that 



110 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

students are, after all, just as far from being infallible, not 
to say omniscient, as anybody else. 

The Toltecs were associated with a couple of notable gods, 
one of good, the other of evil, named, respectively, Quetzal- 
coatl and Tezcatlipoca. The former, whom we may as well 
call the Fair God, since that is what he stands for, is an 
example of what the evolutionists delight to call a "culture 
hero," and to explain by reference to solar myths. This 
same solar-myth theory has indeed been worked wellnigh 
to death ; but its devotees are faithful beyond the wont of 
human nature, and revert to it on all possible occasions. 
Anything rather than concede that a culture hero may have 
been a real man, endowed with superior mind and broader 
nature than his contemporaries ; or that he may have been 
a visitor from another and higher race, who taught an un- 
developed people how to live to better advantage. Christ 
is a flagrant example of the scientific culture hero, and will 
no doubt be relegated to that category by them as soon as 
they are sufficiently far removed from him in time to do it 
safely — always assuming that by that time there will be any 
evolutionary scientists left in the world. Be that as it may, 
they have poor Quetzalcoatl entirely at their mercy, and they 
show him none. There is nothing that he can do, say or be 
that is not promptly explained as solar mythical, and com- 
pared with other solar myths all over the known world. 
How it happens that the peoples of the earth should all 
have passed through this solar-myth period of culture, and 
yet have left no record to show how they came to get into 
it, or to get out of it, we are not informed. It would seem 
to require a fine imagination to create the fable that the sun 
and moon were human beings, and that their light signifies 
intelligence and the overcoming of the darkness of ignorance. 
Yet this is assumed to have been the inveterate habit of races 
who in other respects are mere savages, hardly able to invent 
the bow and arrow. It might be suggested that it would be 
more in accord with what we know of the processes of the 
human mind, if we supposed that some remarkable human 



THE AGE OF CORTES 111 

being, after his death, was Hkened to the sun and moon, and 
that the benefits the latter confer upon mankind were com- 
pared with the concrete or spiritual good this man had done. 
But the scientists prefer to put the cart before the horse ; and 
as no proof is possible either way, we must admit that possi- 
bly they are right. 

The Fair God, at all events, appears to have been a deity 
of great distinction and wide influence. He brought on storms 
and wielded lightning, and, like Eolus, held the strings of the 
wind-bags. His name means Bird- Serpent, and he is repre- 
sented with snakes round his waist. He is credited with the 
invention of the calendar of the Aztecs; and sterile women 
addressed their vows to him, as in India to the god Krishna. 
He was at the same time the patron of virgins and asceticism. 
As in Persia we hear of the titanic conflict between Ormuzd 
and Ahriman, so in Mexico we are told of the enmity between 
the Fair God and his foe Tezcatlipoca. First one and then 
the other was the sun, and the vicissitudes of their battles 
were innumerable. But Quetzalcoatl was at length worsted, 
and took his departure from his people, promising, however, 
to return to them at some future time, bringing with him 
companions with white faces and beards like his own. Ac- 
cordingly, the Aztecs expected his arrival; and this, as we 
shall see, had a singular bearing upon the capture of Mexico 
by Cortes. 

Contemporary with the alleged Toltecs were the Chichi 
mecs, though what precisely they were no one ventures 
dogmatically to affirm. They were perhaps barbarians; 
but on the other hand they may just as well have been 
Toltecs who received the title in compliment for having re- 
pelled a barbarian attack. Either way. we are fairly safe 
in presuming that there were in Mexico people of inferior 
condition, whom the Toltecs opposed or oppressed. But it 
does not appear that it was these people who finally drove 
the Toltecs out; that was more probably accomplished by 
the Nahua tribes from the north, afterward known as 
Aztecs. They came in a series of migrations, very much 



112 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

as the eastern races came to Europe; and like them, the 
Nahuas became divided and hostile one to another. Some 
entered the Mexican valley, while others fortified them- 
selves on the Serpent Hill and worshipped the war-god, 
Huitzilopochtli. The latter division of the race held this 
hill or town of Tollan until circumstances drove them on- 
ward to the valley, where they finally built the city which 
we know as Mexico, but which they also called Tehochtitlan. 
The name Mexico is derived from one of the titles of Huitzi- 
lopochtli — Mexitl. It would be well if all Mexican or Aztecan 
names had so merciful an alias. 

Dates are scarce in these periods ; but we are allowed to 
believe that Tollan was abandoned in 1168, and that Mexico 
was founded about 1325. The spot they selected for their 
pueblo was not at first sight an attractive one; it was in 
the midst of some marshes, to which they must have fled 
for refuge, just as negroes and criminals a hundred years 
ago used to take to the Dismal Swamp when too hard- 
pressed by their pursuers. But there were hummocks of 
dry ground in this marsh of the Aztecs; and they had a 
story that they found in it an eagle sitting on a cactus which 
grew from the crevice of a sacrificial stone on which, years 
before, they had offered up the body of a captive. The eagle 
held in his beak a serpent; and the omen, or symbol, was 
held to be favorable, and indicative of victory. Here and 
not elsewhere then "must be their stronghold ; and the eagle 
and his appurtenances should be their coat of arms or totem. 
They reformed their marsh by constructing dikes and cause- 
ways, and leading the water into canals ;' and ere long the 
swamp was inwardly a very agreeable dwelling-place, and 
outwardly an impregnable fortress. Having thus secured 
themselves, they proceeded to look about them to see whether 
they could not attack some one else. There was a formidable 
tribe called the Tecpanecas, living in the pueblo Azcaputzalco 
on the west shore of the lake ; the Aztecs lacked strength to 
subdue them, so they became their allies. They went on 
gaining power for fifty years, after which they had their 



THE AGE OF CORTES 113 

first chief -of -men, and began, to build their houses of solid 
stone. A number of chiefs succeeded one another for more 
than fifty years longer, when, on occasion of a quarrel be- 
tween their allies and another pueblo, Tezcuco, the Aztecs 
joined the latter in overthrowing Azcaputzalco. They thus 
secured, among other advantages, control of a supply of 
water sufficient for all their needs. Another pueblo, Tlaco- 
pan, was at the same time made tributary to Tenochtitlan. 

The three pueblos now formed a confederacy, with the 
Aztecs as the chief partner. Four more chiefs-of-men suc- 
ceeded to the throne of Mexico, and quite a large extent of 
country was overrun by their warriors, and made tributary 
to the confederacy. But they did not occupy the country in 
a military sense, and not a few large pueblos remained inde- 
pendent. The pueblo of Tlascala, in particular, defeated 
many attempts to subdue them. • Thus we are brought to 
the year 1502, when Montezuma II. was elected chief-of-men 
at the age of four and thirty. He it was whom we know as 
the "emperor" of Cortes's time. 

His first exploit was an unsuccessful attack upon the 
Tlascalans; but he had better fortune in the east, where 
he subdued several minor towns, earning thereby their bit- 
ter hostility. This he would carefully have avoided doing 
had he been able to look but a little way into the future ; for 
it was by way of these towns that Cortes was to advance. 
For the next few years the air was full of omens and por- 
tents, foreshadowing war and calamity; and in 1518 the 
troubles began. A tax-gatherer in the employ of Monte- 
zuma, Pinotl by name, and incidentally a spy at one of 'the 
tributary pueblos near the coast, was one day informed by 
an Indian from a coast town that there were towers with 
white wings walking about over the waters of the b'ay. 
These towers brought forth small canoes which moved 
swiftly to and fro; and in them were creatures resem- 
bling men, though their faces carried thick beards, and 
their clothing shone and darted rays in the sun. These 
accounts seemed passing strange to the tax-gatherer, and 



114 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

he betook himself coastward forthwith, to see with his own 
eyes, if indeed there were such marvels to be seen. Sure 
enough, the report was true; there were the towere, with 
wings which they could expeind or fold together at will; 
and the inhabitants — they were certainly men, albeit of a 
fashion hitherto imknown to the deponent. As the chief 
representative of America present in that place, the worthy 
Pinotl took it upon himself to go forth and greet these 
singular strangei^s, anei was admitted by them to climb up 
the side of one of their towers and hold converse with its 
commander — ^who, in truth, was none other than Juan de 
Grijalva, making his first reconnoissauce of the ''Spanish 
Main" (as it was presently to be). 

Grijalva, communicating with the Aztec by whatever 
species of pigeon-Spanish had been developed in these re- 
gions diu*ing the past five and twenty years, asked many 
questions, and perhaps answered a few, as prudence might 
dictate. Poor Pinotl, though with the Aztec empire at his 
back, was quietly but inevitably reduced to the attitude of 
playing second or even third or fourth fiddle in the confer- 
ence ; these shining sti^angers had a masterful and confident 
way with them ; and what was Pinotl after all but a mere 
tax-gatherer and incidental spy? Pinotl found hunself an- 
swering more questions than he asked; and he told much 
about the riches and possessions of his august mast-er up in 
Tenochtitlan yonder. At the name of "gold," the shining 
strangers pricked up their ears, and smiled agreeably; it 
would please them, they observed, to drop in on the august 
Montezuma one of these fine days, and pay their compU- 
ments to so wealthy and powerful a monarch. Meanwhile 
they presented the agitated Pinotl with certain gifts, receiv- 
ing' gifts in return from him; and so bowed him courteously, 
but always with that masterful air, over the bulwarks of 
the white-winged tower, and ashore again. Hardly pausing 
to regain his breath after contact with such marvels, and 
possibly with deity itself, Pinotl girded up his lean loins 
and made all possible speed up the mountain trails and over 



THE AGE OF CORTES 115 

hill and dale to the fair city of Mexico, doomed, though he 
knew it not then, to such a baptism of blood as even the 
Aztec priests in their most sanguinary enthusiasm had never 
seen or imagined. 

Admitted to audience with the august chief -of-men, he 
unfolded his wondrous news, supplementing the word of 
mouth by appeal to the eye in the shape of sketches on 
maguey paper of the towers and the shining strangers them- 
selves. Hereupon Montezuma, moved beyond his wont, per- 
ceived that this was a matter which even the chiefrof-men 
was not, alone, competent to deal with ; and he convened the 
tribal council in a hurry. God-like strangers were come, in 
walking or flying towers, from the east, the abode of Quet- 
zalcoatl ; precisely, to all seeming, as the old prophecies and 
later signs and omens had foretold. Now, since the Fair 
God's departure in the dim past ages, the Aztecs, like the 
sensible people they were, had given their homage to his 
enemy and conqueror Tezcatlipoca, and to the latter's friend 
and ally the war-god, Huitzilopochtli. All religious arrange- 
ments were established with a view to pleasing these person- 
ages; for them did the victims bleed on the altars, and their 
images grinned, horrible, in the temples. The entire social 
and political economy of the state was based upon worship 
of these deities; Montezuma himself was their priest, and 
held his power in a manner through their favor. All this 
had been well; but now there arose a perplexity, which 
might easily bear a worse name. For did not legend assert 
that the Fair God would one day return with power, to re- 
sume his ancient sovereignty, and consequently to hurl from 
their thrones and temples the usurpers, his old enemies? 
And if the gods of Montezuma were to suffer destruction, 
what might be expected to happen to Montezuma himself, 
and all his following? This was the question which shaped 
itself io ominous lineaments before the senses of the tribal 
council ; which their sagacity hardly felt itself able to cope 
withal. 

Perhaps there were some who had secretly disbelieved 
— 6 



116 HISTOEY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

that Quetzalcoatl would ever return — even that he had ever 
existed. They had taken it for an old-wives' tale, useful 
to subdue the vulgar, but to be smiled at by men of higher 
intelligence. But here, at the doors, and emerging from 
that very eagt whence the Fair God had promised to re- 
turn, were fair-faced strangers of undoubtedly superhuman 
powers ; and Aztec increduHty durst not go so far as to deny 
that they must be come in fulfilment of prophecy. It is all 
very well to talk about coincidences; but to call an event 
Hke this a mere coincidence was to push scepticism to the 
limit of folly, and beyond it. The Fair God had come back ; 
and since prophecy had proved true so far, with what face 
could one question that prophecy would go on to fulfil itself 
to the final letter? In short, the astounding and formidable 
probability stared in the distended eyes of Montezmna and 
his tribal council, that they were in desperate difficulties. 
To see one's gods threatened with prompt extinction by 
better or stronger gods is a serious matter; we can partly 
understand how the council and the chief felt, by imagining 
the sudden irruption of a hostile political party into the com- 
fortable-circles of a Washington Administration in the full 
tide of its enjoyment of the offices and perquisites : a Coxey 
army, say, with power to enforce its will. Whether or not 
the Aztec populace was as much in love with human sacri- 
fices and the continuance of the existing political regime, as 
were the members of that regime themselves, cannot cer- 
tainly be known to us; perhaps it was not known to the 
council. But there will generally be found in any commu- 
nity a considerable body who are "agin the government," 
be it what it may ; and then, beyond any doubt at all, there 
were those pueblos to the east which were of late so severely 
disciphned; they would be sure to welcome anybody who 
showed disposition and ability to destroy Tenochtitlan. In 
emergencies like these, one counts his friends, and finds them 
much less numerous than he would have wished. The Az- 
tecan confederacy had esteemed itself powerful ; but when 
one's enemies are reinforced by the gods, the outlook is dark. 



THE AGE OF CORTES 117 

Upon the whole, the tribal council and their chief must have 

had an interesting and emotional sitting; a sitting, as it were, 
upon the thin crust of a volcano, which promised at any mo- 
ment to send them into infinite space in the shape of cosmic 
grains of dust. How much the Spaniards, therefore, were 
indebted to prophecies of which they had never heard, there 
is no telling; but it is not unlikely that if they had attempted 
to invade Mexico on their private merits alone, they would 
have found a very different reception, and perhaps met a dif- 
ferent fate. But the stars in their courses fought for them, 
and their sharp swords were made sharper yet by the grind- 
stone of the supernatural. 

How happened the Spaniards to visit Mexico just at this 
time? We have seen that the island of Hispaniola, or Haiti, 
was the centre whence radiated all lines of Spanish explora- 
tion and conquest. Diego Columbus assumed governorship 
there in 1509, and despatched Velasquez to conquer Cuba in 
1511. Concerning the details of that conquest we know not 
much; it was accomplished promptly enough at all events, 
and for many generations was administered in the true 
Spanish style; the inhabitants were reduced to slavery, 
and worked to death in the mines or otherwise, with cir- 
cumstances of cruelty which would be incredible were they 
not paralleled m recent years in the same island. The col- 
ony founded in Darien by Ojeda, in spite of its misfortunes, 
and of the miserable death of its founder, was kept alive by 
hook or by crook, and was the base whence Balboa made his 
discovery of the Pacific in 1513. It was in the same year 
that Ponce de Leon, then governor of Porto Rico, explored 
Florida. In 1516, food being scarce in Darien, Bernal Diaz 
and a hundred other colonists crossed to Cuba, and set up a 
slave-catching business from a point on the southern coast, 
cruising in the Bay of Honduras. Governor Velasquez 
(though the business was illegal) added a ship fitted out 
by himself to the corsair fleet, and gave the command to 
Hernandez de Cordova. There were about a hundred sol- 
diers in the company; and after they had sailed from San- 



ilS HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

tiagx> by the "Windward F..<<..co to uo: supplies, the pilot, 
Alaniinoss, an old sailor under Columbus, remembered that 
the great Admiral had o' .-^ ^ '.1 him something of rich 

coimtrieiS to the vrest. C. was interested, and with 

permiSiSion of A^elasquei to act as heutenaut in whatever 
new lands were found, off bore the fleet for Yucatan. A 
first glimpse of the eoti^st wj^s more suggestive of the real 
thing — the Oriental civilization — than anything they had 
stumbled upon yet. Here were people clad in jerkins of 
quilted cloth Axith feather cloaks^ and caps of the most bril- 
liant hues : on shore were seen §trange tower-like ediiices of 
pyramidal form, with ca^^'ings and statues. But the people 
in the quilted doublets were not friendly : they were much 
the contrary : for they had heard of these sea-rovers before 
by reports^ from Cuban fugitives. They did not wish to l>e 
enslaved and slaughtered: and when the Spaniards came 
ashore, they ambushed and killed some of them. Coasting 
along, the visitors arrived at Campeche. where they were 
allowed to land by the Ma^-a inhabitants, and saw the tem- 
ples of stone and the great fortresses, the sculptured snakes, 
and the altars glistening with bkxxi. Men and women mean- 
while, laugliing and curious, pressed forward to look upon 
the strj^ngers; but later came priests who requested them, 
with more or less ix>liteness. to get off that part of the earth 
without delay; which hint they took; for the enterprise of 
conquering this coimtry with a hundred men did not look 
promising. Landing once more further along the eoast^. not 
for conquest but for water, they were fiercely attacked and 
nearly exterminated: all who were not slain outright were 
wounded. Corvlova himself died of his injuries soon after 
getting back to Cubc^, Evidently the Mayas had not the 
fear of Quetzalcoatl before their eyes. 

Velasquez heiu>i their story, and his desire to see more 
of these rich temples was stronger than his apprehensions of 
disaster: he fitted out foiu: caravels, put two hundred and 
fifty soldiers aboani. gave Orrijalva, his nephew, the com- 
mr.nd, and sent them on their way. They foimd their way 



THE AGE OF CORTES 119 

to that watering-place which had proved so fatal to Cor- 
dova; but this time the Spaniards had the best of the en- 
counter. Touching at Tabasco, where they were well 
received by the chief of that name, they went on to where 
the pueblo of Mictlan-Quauhtla looked out over the bay; 
and there it was that they were boarded and interviewed 
by the startled Pinotl — whom they also interviewed. The 
living people whom they saw were amicable and smiling; 
but their sensibilities were somewhat shocked by the omni- 
present dead and disembowelled bodies and fearfully glaring 
heads on poles which everywhere encountered them. Span- 
iards love blood; but they prefer to shed it themselves, and 
in their own way. What if this amicably smiling people 
were to take a fancy, still smiling, to remove Spanish heads 
from the shoulders on which they grew, to these poles? Yon- 
der idols had a bloodthirsty look, albeit their jaws were 
already adrip with gore; it was not altogether a sinless Eden 
to which they were come. But then, there was gold, and 
also souls to be won to Christ; let us not despair! 

From a place which they named St. John de Ulloa they 
sent back their sick to Cuba, and asked for reinforcements. 
In November, Grijalva, after some further coasting, which 
showed nothing better than what had already been seen, 
returned to Cuba and told the story, which sounded well. 
Cathay, it seemed, had been found after all. But poor 
Grijalva, in the midst of his anticipations, was deposed 
from his command by his stern uncle, whose mind had in 
the meanwhile been poisoned against him; and, instead 
of him, Hernando Cortes was raised to the leadership of the 
new expedition. This man was born in Medellin, Estrama- 
dura, in 1485, and was therefore at this time about three 
and thirty years of age. He had come to Hispaniola in 
1504; after some years he moved to Cuba and married. He 
presents a queer mixture of traits and qualities. Daring 
and unscrupulous he was, crafty and relentless; but strictly 
religious (in the Spanish way), enduring, and honorable 
after the manner of chivalric honor. He was born both a 



120 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

soldier and a statesman, with a mind to plan and ability 
to execute. He was just the man to conquer Mexico; in- 
deed, he was so well-fitted for that job that Velasquez, after 
appointing him to the command, began to have misgivings 
lest he prove only too well qualified, and liable, upon oppor- 
tunit)^, to take matters in his own hands. Velasquez was 
a true Spaniard, and therefore would rather see Spain dis- 
honored than forego his own private advantage ; so he sent 
after Cortes, who had started, to call him back and send 
him somewhere else. But Cortes believed in the saving that 
possession is nine-tentlis of the law ; he was in possession of 
the command of a sturdy troop of soldiers, and had no inten- 
tion of resigning it in response to the second thoughts of Gov- 
ernor Velasquez. He sailed on cheerfully, and in the first 
days of March had a brush with the Tabasco people, and 
helped himself to some provisions that he found there. From 
St. John de Ulloa he sent forward messengers with gifts and 
poHte speeches to Montezuma, already shivering in his cap- 
ital; and by careful inquiries he began to comprehend how 
matters stood in the Confederacy, and out of it. It became 
evident that there were disagreements and enmities in this 
pleasant land among the various inhabitants of it; and it 
became of course the policy of a sage invader to take ad- 
vantage of these to advance his own designs. But lu*st it 
was necessary to discover which of the native parties was the 
stronger; meanwhile it would be well to seem to favor both 
of them. In pursuance of this plan, this astute young man 
abetted the trilDutary pueblos in arresting Montezuma's tax- 
gatherers ; but after this had been done, and the pueblos thus 
assured of his support, he secretly summoned the forlorn tax- 
gatherers before him, and despatched them home in freedom, 
to carry to Montezuma the news that the mysterious invader 
was his ally, whatever appearance to the contrary he might 
occasionally be constrained to assume. 

But a successfid invader and conqueror has no end of 
things to consider ; in the first place there is the people whose 
land he is invading, with their as yet imknown ways and 



THE AGE OF CORTES 131 

resources; then, there is the array he is leading to the inva- 
sion, many or most members of which may lose heart at the 
wrong moment, and by flinching or deserting upset all pre- 
arranged plans. The rank and file of the Spanish army were 
doubtless better soldiers, man for man, than they are now ; 
but there was nevertheless in them that quality, or absence 
of quality, which makes it imperative upon their ofiScers 
to drive them with whips of some sort against the enemy. 
To-day, we see a leader shooting down some two score of his 
men with his revolver, in order to persuade them to serve 
the guns; in 3 519, in Mexico, Cortes had not army enough 
to afford this costly luxury; but he was not at a loss for 
other means. He had come hither in ships; and what was 
to prevent his army, or too large a part of, it, from re-em- 
barking on these ships, if they became frightened or home- 
sick, and scuttling off back to Cuba? The best way to pre- 
vent it, said Cortes, in his deep-revolving mind, is to scuttle 
the ships themselves. Several of the vessels were accord- 
ingly treated in this way, secretly ; the leakage being dis- 
covered, question arose as to how it happened ; and answer 
was made that it must have been worms. But if, argued 
Cortes, so many ships are thus rendered unseaworthy, would 
it not be wise to scuttle the rest of them, and so set free some 
scores of sailor-men, who can take arms and accompany us 
on our glorious march into the golden interior of the coun- 
try? So said, so done; until there was but one ship left. 
At this stage, certain suspicious and prying persons had 
made it out that the whole transaction was what we would 
term a put-up 30b; and accused Cortes thereof. A lesser 
man would have denied the charge; but Cortes knew his 
human nature better. If there be in this noble army (says 
he) any individuals so faint-hearted and craven as to shrink 
from the path of glory and honor that lies before us across 
yonder mountains, let those persons, in God's name, step 
out now from our ranks, throw down their swords, and 
skulk back to the remaining ship which lies ready to convey 
the cowards home again. But let those who have hearts in 



128 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

their lx\soms, and ambitiou iu their souls to becoane rich, and 
famous, follow me; for I "«ill leiwi them to such fortune as 
never yet the mind of mortal man conceived. — Such was the 
argument of the deep-desiguiug Cortos. 

Men and soldiers lu^ vain ; they dread finding themselves 
in a minority : they aiv avaricious, and let us not deny that 
they may be liivd with a not ungenervnis enthusiasm. Cort4?s 
prevailed. His little speecli wtvs received with shouts; amid 
which he fivileil not to suggest that the one romaiuing tem^>- 
ti\tion to inlideUty should forthwith In? remove^l. Renewotl 
cheers; and with a rush the final caravel is sent to the bot- 
tom, and the army of invasion strands ou the co^ast. literally 
between the devil and the deep se^i, with nothing for it but 
to conquer or die. In such a predicament, men may be 
trusted to do their l^est. Cortes ci.'»uld affonl to have them 
do no less; for shoiJd he ftnl to make goixl his hold nix^n 
the laud of gold, he needed no soothsayer to tell him that 
his friend the gv>vernor of Cubji had a headsman's i^xe sharp- 
eneii for his neck. It was conquer or die for him too. 

Cortes hiul meanwhile laid the foundations of the town 
of Vera Cruz, auvl had Si^gaciously resigned the commission 
given him by Velasquex, calculating that he would Iv chv\?eu 
captain-general by his men, as in fact he immetliately was. 
All being ready, the fjunous march frv^m the sea begim. As 
modern travellers know, there is no more picturesque bit 
of country in the world than that which lies between Vera 
Cruz and the city of Mexico. To pass through it is an in- 
spin\tion; but what must it have been to those who traversed 
it for the first time, witli such perils befoi*e and around them, 
and s<iich ^x^ssibilities of wealth and glory? They were see- 
ing things which mortal Euroj^an eyes had never till now 
beheld. Heaveu-scaliug mountains; awful ravines; deU- 
cious valleys; wondrous plains; the gorgeous vegetation 
of the semi-tropics. In one vtUley tlieiv was a continuous 
line of houses for some dozen miles, with walleil and rv>bust 
fortresses such as one might scarce find in S^v^in itself. And 
there 'sviis a population numerous iu proportion, though not. 



THE A(JE OF CORTTCB 12:3 

fortunately for tho invMtlorH, (^lad in steel and armed with 
guns. Darts and spears they had, and clubs studded over 
with sharp oiitjuttin}^ points of stone destructive even to steel 
headpieces should tho blow come down unobstructed. Such 
weapons, were there but men enough to use them, might 
finally prove a serious obstacle to the ambition of young 
Cortes; and certainly tliore were men in abundance. But, 
as Cortes had already surmised, these men were not all of 
one mind in their attitude toward the invaders; for if some 
would oppose them at all hazards, others would incline to 
welcome them as deities returning to claim their own. Be- 
sides, tluiso folk in brilliant featliers and quilted cotton had 
many internal jealousies and revenges to satisfy, and, after 
the manner of men, would be willing to see their country fall, 
if only they could get even thereby with their own private 
foes. The pueblos hitherto tributary to Tenochtitlan would 
join the invader in suppressing that arrogant oligarchy, upon 
whose altars so many thousand of them had bled. We can 
hardly blame them for that; tho firmament of tyranny, be 
it never so high and bright, is always bounded on all sides 
by tho horizon (^f black revenge. This, then, was a strong 
support for Cortes's adventure; and, in addition, there was 
the excellent deadliness of his weapons, and the overmaster- 
ing dread inspired by his horses. One horse, with a man 
on him, or even unmounted, could be trusted to put to flight 
an army of Aztecs. "With his fifteen horses, his six cannon, 
and his four hundred and fifty armor-clad men-at-arms, 
girded about with their supernatural reputation, Cortes 
might bid defiance to a myriad; and if half that myriad 
could be seduced to fight on his side, he might master the 
whole country. In spite of first appearances, in short, the 
odds were in favor of the Spaniards; nevertheless, it was 
a wonderful spectacle, that of the handful of iron warriors 
from across the ocean, winding up those narrow mountain 
trails, to subdue a nation of millions. The spectacle of Alex- 
ander conquering Asia was hardly so wonderful. 

Before the invaders, as they came on, fled a scurrying 



134 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

multitude of couriers, bearing on to Montezuma the items 
of the march, and ilkistrating their reports with drawings 
and writings on maguey paper, just as, to-day, we have the 
photograph of our famous man or criminal served up each 
morning in our newspaper along with his eulogy or the story 
of his crime. Cortes was not long in realizing that the role 
attributed to him was that of a god, and he acted up to its 
requirements. Since he was Quetzalcoatl, obviously it be- 
hooved him to discomfit upon aU occasions the worship and 
the priests of his rivals. Accordingly, upon arriving at the 
town of Cempoala, where numberless honest persons were 
awaiting their turn upon the altars, and the idols were open- 
ing their horrid mouths to quaff the hot blood of the same, 
Cortes, to the stupefaction of all, to the rage of many, but 
to the joy of some, had the supreme audacity to set the cap- 
tives free, to smash the idols, and to seize the persons of the 
chiefs. Did he execute the chiefs? — No; for he knew the 
ways of the natives. Had he slain them, new chiefs would 
at once have been elected, and the day might have gone 
against him; but by keeping them alive, he retained them 
in their official positions, and no successors could be chosen. 
"With chiefs who, though impotent, were alive and could 
not be superseded, the people were leaderless, and ail action 
on their part paralyzed. They were fain to stand as idle 
spectators while .their temples were purified according to 
Boman Catholic notions, and the cross of Christ (which also, 
by an odd coincidence, happened to be one of the emblems 
of Quetzalcoatl) was set up over them. What could any- 
body do? Quetzalcoatl was perfectly justified in substituting 
his cult for that of Texcatlipoca ; and even if the partisans 
of the latter had heart to resist the new-comer, they could 
do nothing without a chief to head them. 

Upward toward the empyrean and Mexico chmbed Cortes 
and his men; they were more than a mile above the sea. 
They passed towns with strange names — Xicochimalco, 
Teoxihuacan, Texotla, Xocotlan. In the matter of names, 
assuredly, if in nothing else, the ancient Aztecs could claian 



THE AGE OF CORTES 125 

originality; we find nothing in the Old World to compare 
with them in this respect. Xocotlan was a place of some 
importance, with thirteen pyramid temples; anc^ here the 
inhabitants, by way of a graceful courtesy, instead of send- 
ing forward their mayor to read an address and invite the 
distinguished strangers to a dinner, got up a little sacrifice 
of fifty victims, in whose blood they dipped cakes, and 
offered them to the Spaniards as refreshment. The upland 
air is bracing, and breeds appetite; but it may be doubted 
whether the Spaniards lunched heartily on these viands. 
They kept on their way to a place baptized Iztacmixtitlan, 
a rating-place before advancing to Tlascala, one of the most 
powerful and formidable of the pueblos. It was here that 
they were to meet the first open resistance; and upon the 
issue of the contest would hang the fortunes of Cortes. The 
crisis had come. 

The pueblo had two war-chiefs ; and they were diametri- 
cally opposed in their views as to what should be done. One 
of them was for regarding the Spaniards as manifest gods, 
to contend against whom were worse than vain; as well try 
to make fire burn downward, or water run up hill. The 
other chieftain was wedded to his ancestral idols; he was 
a conservative in politics and religion, and a disciple of 
materialism into the bargain. It might be that the 
strangers were gods; their arrogance, however, was the 
only godly attribute they had thus far displayed. But 
gods or not, there were very few of them; whereas the 
Tiascalans were innumerable, and they had never been 
defeated. There was at least a fair chance that the in- 
vaders might be overwhelmed; and even if the attempt 
should fail, it would not be the end of all things; a few 
thousand warriors slain, that was all ; and the general situ- 
ation no worse than it was before; since, if they did not 
fight, they would be subjugated anyway. In short, the ad- 
vocates of battle carried the day, and the Tlascalan army 
took the field. How many of them there were we cannot 
say ; some writers put it at one hundred and fifty thousand ; 



126 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Professor Fiske, who will not be stampeded, does not believe 
there were more than five thousand at most, and thinks the 
result of the battle is quite as wonderful as is decent, even 
then. The Tlascalans, be their number what it may, were 
brought to battle in great divisions, probably phratries, 
which were distinguished one from another by the color of 
the paint with which they beautified themselves. For armor 
they put on their quilted cotton doublets, grasped their hide 
shields with feather trimmings, and fastened leather caps on 
their heads, also adorned with featherwork in such a manner 
as to simulate snakes and jaguars. For weapons of offence 
they carried bows and arrows, lances with copper heads, 
slings a.nd javelins, and swords of heavy and hard wood, 
reinforced with sharp edges of obsidian. Had the Spaniards 
been sinailarly equipped, this narrative would never have been 
written; but of what avail were such toys against firearms 
and steel? Moreover, in the fighting which followed during 
the next two days, and was of a desultory character, the 
Tlascalans were greatly hampered by their invincible desire 
to capture their foes instead of merely killing them off-hand; 
they wished to kill and eat them according to the laws of 
religion and gastronomy after the battle was over. Thus 
they would die by dozens (or by thousands, if we please) in 
the effort to surround and capture a single Spanish horse- 
man. The effort was fruitless. Not a man of the invaders 
was captured, though one or two were killed (but were 
buried by their comrades, in the interests of their alleged 
deityship), and several were wounded. After the two days 
were over, therefore, the Tlascalans could only suppose that 
mortal Aztec could make no impression on the steel hides of 
these supernatural invaders. One hope, however, remained, 
in the opinion of the soothsayers : allowing that these people 
were children of the sun, might it not be that the light of 
that star was essential to their invulnerability? In that case, 
all one had to do was to attack them after dark. In order 
to make assurance doubly sure, and to be on the safe side 
in case the reasoning of the soothsayers should prove faultj^ 



THE AGE Of CORTES 127 

spies were sent to the Spanish camp to lull the suspicions of 
the enemy asleep with soothing words ; some of them were 
to report back with whatever information they could gather, 
the rest to set fire to the effects of the invaders at a pre- 
arranged signal. 

But Cortes was a natural soothsayer himself, and could 
see quite as far into a millstone as the acutest of the Tlas- 
calans. N"o sooner had the spies entered the camp, with au 
assumed meekness of demeanor which they were persuaded 
was impenetrable, than they found themselves seized, bound, 
and dragged before the terrible white captain for examina- 
tion. His eyes, sternly regarding them, made their bosoms 
feel like translucent glass, and turned their bowels to water 
within them. The secret must out; they collapsed and con- 
fessed. Cortes, after the sun had set, sent back the spies 
whence they caine (retaining only their thumbs) with the 
information that the children of the sun were just as invin- 
cible after dark as at noonday. And without undue delay, 
he followed up the messengers with a cavalry charge ; the 
helpless Tlascalans, distilled almost to a jelly with the act 
of fear, flying before the man-monsters, ventre a terre. But 
many of them were slain ; and those who escaped sought the 
only solace possible in the circumstances; they caught and 
cooked the soothsayers, and put them where they could cause 
no worse evil than an indigestion. "Whether indigestion in- 
deed supervened, we know not; but the next morning the 
chiefs of Tlascala saw a new light, and besought their con- 
querors to accept them as allies in whatever further exploits 
they might be contemplating. The proffer was accepted; 
and the race of the Aztecs admitted that the combination 
must prove irresistible. N"obody, till now, had been able 
to overcome the Tlascalans; the sun-children had beaten 
them without an effort ; who then should stand against the 
twain united? The doom of Tenochtitlan was at hand, and 
the march against it was already begun, the steel invaders 
marching first, while the cotton-quilted but formidable Tlas- 
calans followed cloud-like in their rear. The latter were 



128 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

presently to realize that tlie Spaniards were not altogether 
so god-like as they had pretended; but the alliance held, 
nevertheless, for the interests of the two parties to it were 
at first identical. 

The first step toward Tenochtitlan was the great pueblo 
of Cholula, a member of the confederacy, and vowed to the 
service of Quetzalcoatl. Yet although the Fair God was 
their especial god, their hobby-god, as it were, they do not 
appear to have had any very realizing sense of him, as of 
a deity likely to reappear in human incarnation from the 
region of the rising sun, about this time. They paid his 
image conventional respect, as an image ; but did not look 
for him to get down from his pedestal, and come riding into 
their pueblo in steel armor, with other bearded deities in his 
train. In fact, the Cholulans seem to have been of a more 
sceptical complexion, in regard to these sun-children, than 
any others of the dwellers of the plateau ; that the Spanish 
were dangerous and objectionable persons they admitted; but 
that they were supernatural, they implicitly questioned. 
And even with the example of the hitherto redoubtable 
Tlascalans before their eyes, these Cholulans flattered them- 
selves that they would teach the sun men a lesson. They 
thought to make a ragout of Cortes and his men and horses ; 
instead of which occurred the Massacre of Cholula, famous 
in history, but not so abominable a matter as many other 
transactions in which Spaniards, before and since, have been 
agents. Cortes behaved very much as the cogency of circum- 
stances compelled him ; with resolution, sagacity and courage 
into the bargain. But the tale is a little complicated. 

"We have said that the Cholulans were members of the 
confederacy; but this should be explained. Properly, the 
confederacy, as we have seen, consisted of but three — Te- 
nochtitlan, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan. But when the rumor 
of the invincible strangers began to come from the coast, 
the minds of the local statesmen became occupied with ways 
and means of encountering them to the best advantage ; and 
Tenochtitlan, remembering the Tlascalans and the disgrun- 



THE AGE OF CORTES 129 

tied eastern towns, cast about for some fresh ally or buffer 
nearer home to obstruct the advance of the enemy withal. 
Now the Cholulans had until lately been hostile to Mexico, 
and either party was more prone to kill and eat the other, 
upon opportunity, than to exchange the offices of friendship. 
But in the shadow of a peril so exceptional as now threat- 
ened, these hereditary foes felt inclined to make common 
cause, if only to insure each other the privilege of mutual 
cannibalism hereafter; and messengers were sent from Mex- 
ico to Cholula, offering some such proposition, and making 
suggestions as to what should be done. For the time being, 
then, and subject to conditions and precautions, a sort of al- 
liance was concluded between the two; and a plot to destroy 
the invaders partly devised. The road to Mexico lay through 
Cholula; but there was also an alternative route, through 
another pueblo; and at first blush one would expect that the 
invaders would be persuaded to go by that route rather than 
Cholula way. But it so happened that this other pueblo was 
not only an enemy of Mexico, but an irreconcilable one; and 
it was considered that should the Spaniards enter that town, 
the result would be that it, as well as the Tlascalans, would 
enlist under their banner. Consequently prudence dictated 
that Cortes must be invited to visit Cholula ; and, once with- 
in their gates, care must be taken that he did not emerge 
thence alive. 

In studying the details of this affair, one is struck with 
the looseness of the strategy, and the many and fatal loop- 
holes left by the plotters for being found out and countered. 
For even could they hoodwink Cortes — ^not a hopeful under- 
taking — how could they expect to deceive his Tlascalan al- 
-lies, who were acquainted of course with all native devices, 
and would not fail to put the stranger upon his guard? Be- 
sides, what other interpretation could one put upon trenches 
and ditches cut across the main street of the pueblo, than 
that they were designed to obstruct the movements of men 
and horses in combat or charge?— and the piles of sling-stones 
on the flat roofs of the houses along the way, though it might 



130 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

be "the custom" to keep them there, were at the jmictm'e 
not reassuring. Moreover, here seemed to be a wondrous 
multitude of people assembled; hundreds of thousands, ap- 
parently; they lined the road for miles and thronged the 
roofs. It is true, as scrupulous Mr. Bandelier and others 
remark, that this multitude was enormously exaggerated by 
the Spanish nai-rators, on the same principle that a modern 
theatre audience is expected to be so obliging as to believe 
that the squad of six men-at-arms w^hich continually passes 
and repasses across the stage, is in fact an innumerable host ; 
in short, this endless crowd of Cholulans were continually 
the same crowd reproduced in successive places along the 
Spanish Hne of march: whether with malice aforethought 
to deceive, or as simply anxious to observe the queer 
strangers as often as possible. Mr. Bandelier vnW not 
admit that there were more than twenty- five thousand 
Cholulans at that time extant, though a superficial glance 
at the town or pueblo might easily lead one to imagine that 
there might be more. Houses were indeed distributed over 
a large area ; but in the first place not more than two-thirds 
or three-fourths of them were inhabited ; and then there were 
larger vacant places between the several constitutive settle- 
ments or hamlets than would be the case in Em-ope, The 
houses were of one story, flat-roofed; and in the centre of 
the town rose a high, artificial hill, or ruined pyramid per- 
haps, now overgrown with vegetation, and surmounted by 
small temples. It was in these temples that the sacrifices 
were performed. In addition to the private houses, there 
were also larger composite buildings, enclosing square courts 
with thick walls, and consisting of numerous private dwell- 
ings joined together. One of these was quite large enough 
to accommodate the entire Spanish army, and in such a one 
they were in fact domiciled. 

Two invitations to visit Cholula were sent to Cortes by 
the council ; but it is 6pen to us to believe that the first one 
was not official in the full sense, but was put forth by cer- 
tain chiefs who were disposed really to secure the friendship 



THE AGE OF CORTES 131 

of the Spaniards. But Cortes seems to have been dissatisfied 
with its informal character, and sent the emissaries back with 
a demand that he receive an invitation with all the honors. 
Accordingly, a second and much larger deputation was de- 
spatched to meet him, with gifts and polite assurances; and 
Cortes for his part instituted ceremonies with a view to re- 
ceiving Cholula as vassal of the Spanish crown. But the 
chiefs who took the prescribed oaths did so with a light 
heart, inasmuch as they could not be binding on them in 
the first place (they not having been empowered by the tribe 
to enter into any such compact) ; and, in the second place, 
they did not rightly comprehend what the object of the 
ceremony was. Only, if it led the Spaniards to imagine 
that they were safe, so much the better. Thus there was, 
to a degree, a game of cross-purposes ; but practically neither 
side trusted the other ; and the Tlascalans did not fail to warn 
Cortes that he would be betrayed. Cortes was already of the 
same way of thinking; but it would not do for him to show 
misgiving at this stage ; he must on, and deal with the crisis 
when it came as best he might. On the outskirts of the 
town, the Tlascalans were obliged to halt, as being heredi- 
tary enemies of the Cholulans, who could not enter their 
pueblo. But Cortes was able to maintain commimication 
with them ; and it was understood between them and him 
that when the guns were heard they should rush in and 
take a hand in the battle. 

Forward now went the compact mass of the four hundred 
and fifty Spaniards, alone, wedged in between the thousands 
of their treacherous hosts. Mr. Bandolier, who has made a 
study of Cholula, gives us a good picture of this barbarous 
assemblage. "Women in their ancient dress, with their hair 
done up in the style of a turban; the short upil or sleeveless 
waistcoat, made of cotton cloth and embroidered with red, 
black and white figures, through which the head and neck 
projected, and beneath it a skirt, girt round the body. The 
men, except the officers, bareheaded, in white robes, and 
also embroidered jackets ; on the heads of the principal offi- 



133 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

cers, the half-mitre, adorned with colored feathers, colored 
stones, and shells; the priests in black; all the faces painted 
in festive style, that is, hideoush^ striped, those of the com- 
mon people with cochineal on the cheeks and forehead, and 
those of higher chiefs with green, blue and yellow ; and the 
faces of the priests black, with white rings round the eyes 
and mouth. Added to these features were the noise of large 
and small drums, the squeaking of pipes, the roaring, thump- 
ing sound of the 'Tozacatl, ' and the clattering of many 
rattles. The Spaniards marched slowly along in the midst 
of this uproar, while the horses walked under their armored 
riders. ... A festival less formal and ceremonious than 
historians have represented it, but still extraordinary, gor- 
geous, and strange enough." 

They marched, as the Cholulans believed and intended, 
to their doom; as they themselves felt, to a battle; and 
Cortes also believed, though as it proves without good 
grounds, that the Cholulans were supported by ten or 
twenty thousand soldiers from Tenochtitlan. He noted, 
too, that all the women and children were being withdrawn 
from the town, which indicated, of course, that fisticuffs 
were in the wind. That he was very fully informed of all 
that was planning for his destruction is certain ; and if other 
means of informing himself had been lacking, he could rely 
upon the Tabasco girl, Malina, his interpreter and mistress, 
a clever and faithful wen<3h, proficient in both the Maya and 
Nahuatl languages, who probably saved her lover's life sev- 
eral times over in the exciting days and months that fol- 
lowed. Her importance to the cavalier was recognized by 
the Aztecs, who called Cortes himself Malinche — the master 
(or appurtenance) of Malina. She imports into the story of 
the conquest of Mexico the single thread of love romance 
which it contains; though of the other kinds of romance 
there is enough. It must be admitted, too, that Cortes ap- 
pears in the attitude of the beneficiary throughout; Malina 
does everything for him ; he does nothing for Malina, except 
let her do everything. 



THE AGE OF CORTES 133 

As an illustration of the barbaric child-likeness of the 
Aztecs, the incident of Malina and the "old woman" is per- 
tinent. Malina was regarded by the natives as a ISTahuatl 
girl, and as secretly friendly to their cause; moreover, she 
was obviously rich, for she carried much of her eleemosynary 
wealth exposed about her person. She was therefore a desir- 
able match; and the "old woman" had marked her down as 
such ; and while the Spaniards were in Cholula, she secretly 
opened negotiations with her in the interest of her. son. As 
an argument in favor of the latter, she disclosed to Malina 
the fact that the annihilation of the Spaniards was intended, 
and pointed out the peril in which Malina stood, unless she 
severed herself from them betimes. Malina was not scared, 
but she seemed to be deeply interested, and besought the old 
woman to give her all the details of the plot ; which the poor 
lady, nothing doubting, did. From this conference Malina 
went light-footed to Cortes, and imparted the facts, which 
tallied with information which Cortes had already derived 
from certain priests whom he had put to the question. The 
old woman and her son, the prospective rival of Cortes in 
Malina's affections, were promptly secured, and it is to be 
feared thej'" were treated with true Spanish gallantry. Cortes 
was now ready to act. 

In order to throw the Cholulans off their guard, Cortes 
had already taken measures to convince their chiefs that he 
was off his guard entirely ; he had courteously chided them 
for giving him so little of their society during his stay, and 
had requested them to furnish him with a military escort 
and porters for his march to Mexico, which he would begin 
the next morning. The poor chiefs, hugel}'' tickled at the 
seeming success of their own treachery, were quite blind 
to that of the Spaniard, and there was a sort of love-feast 
between these two parties who were longing to be at each 
other's throats. The morning came. The Spanish soldiers 
were drawn up in order, the guns were loaded, Cortes was 
on his horse, with Malina by his side; all was ready. The 
guards now admitted the smiling Cholulans into the court, 



134 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

and in they thronged by hundreds, wedging themselves 
tightly round that steel-clad band who stood so grim in the 
midst, with their fierce eyes bent on their leader, who, with 
a serene countenance, intimated that, before setting out, it 
would gratify him to have speech with the chiefs, some thirty 
in-number, who had been chiefly in evidence during his stay; 
he wished to bid them farewell and to beseech their blessing. 
Now these chiefs — or some of them; for there were still 
two parties in Cholula, one intending the massacre of the 
Spaniards, the other iidvising alliance with them — some of 
these chiefs were so certain that, within a few hours, they 
would be dining off their visitors on the summit of the sacri- 
ficial hill, that they accepted Cortes's polite invitation with 
alacrity. With them, Cortes withdrew into a private place, 
and there, with the calmness and lack of passion which it 
was his pleasm"e to show in such crises, regaled them with 
a minute account of their plot from beginning to end ; and 
even went so far as to pick out from the thirty those chiefs 
who had been most active in it. One can see the eyes of 
these unfortunates dilate, and their jaws relax, as they lis- 
tened to words which proved to them that the sun-people 
were gods, and omniscient, after all. Cortes added that it 
had been suggested to him that Montezuma was privy to the 
plot; but such a charge he refused to credit; he was too well 
assured of the noble character of that prince. This remark 
was thrown in to keep the Mexican envoys quiet; for the 
far-seeing Spaniard knew that he would need all his sagac- 
ity, as well as all his strength^ in dealing with Tenochtitlan 
hereafter. 

The interview over, the signal for slaughter was given, 
the camion belched fire, and the shot tore through the 
wedged masses in the square. The noise itself was fearful 
enough; it had never before been heard in Cholula; but the 
deadly effect was beyond all forecast. The great square 
soon became a frightful shambles of dead and djnng, wading 
amid which the Spanish soldiers soon became painted with 
hot blood; and upon it all the clear October sun looked 



THE AGE OF CORTES 135 

down, as if in approval of his children's action. Hither and 
thither, without and within the court of death, charged the 
steel-clad horsemen, and at every leap their swords rose and 
fell, and another Aztec -life went out. Meanwhile the Tlas- 
calans, taking their cue from the uproar, rushed into the 
town, and began a slaughter on their own account. It was 
warm work, but pleasant to all save the Cholulans; and it 
lasted five hours. The main body of the natives fled to the 
mound now called Cerro de la Cruz, more than half a mile 
from the court ; and made their last stand there ; when they 
were dead, the resistance ended. The doomed chiefs were 
now brought forth, and, as an artistic climax, burned at the 
stake, to encourage the others. How many Cholulans were 
slain, in all? No one knows ; Las Casas says, six thousand ; 
Professor Fiske will not believe in more than five hundred; 
others split the difference. We are absolutely at liberty to 
take our choice, according to our temperament and preju- 
dices. The more pertinent question is, Were the Spaniards 
justified in what they did? — and the verdict of the most con- 
siderate seems to say that they were. When it comes to a 
choice between massacring and being massacred, few persons 
will hesitate in making their selection. It is true that we 
have only Spanish sources of information as to the prelimi- 
naries which introduced the event; it is conceivable that the 
story about the Cholulan plot may have been manufactured 
to suit the occasion. But this is far from likely; and we are 
pretty safe in concluding that this was an instance of being 
hoist with one's own petard. Besides, Cortes displayed his 
clemency by releasing the many persons who were being 
fattened in cages by the Cholulans for future sacrifices; he 
had no use for them himself, and did not see why he should 
omit so good a chance of making native friends. 

From Cholula the Spaniards continued their march, their 
baptism of blood having been thoroughly performed. Pass- 
ing several pueblos, some of which, built in the Venetian 
style with canals for streets, and with sparkling buildings of 
white gypsum, gratified their love of the picturesque, they 



136 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

arrived on the 7th of November, 1519, at Ixtapalapan, on the 
border of the lake amid which stood Tenochtitlan. The sight 
was impressive and beautiful, and stimulated the annalist of 
the march, Bernal Diaz, to expressions of admiration. Says 
he, "When we beheld so many cities and towns rising up 
from the water, and other populous places standing on terra 
firma, and that causeway, straight as a level, which led into 
Mexico, we remained astonished, and said one to another that 
it was like the enchanted castles of Amadis, by reason of the 
great towers, temples and edifices which were in the water, 
all of them the work of masonry. Some of our soldiers asked 
if what they saw were not the fabric of a dream." 

"It may well be called," comments Professor Fiske, per- 
mitting himself one of his rare seizures of enthusiasm, "the 
most romantic moment in all history, this moment when Eu- 
ropean eyes first rested upon that city of wonders, the chief 
ornament of a stage of social evolution two full ethnic periods 
behind their own. To say that it was like stepping back across 
the centuries to visit the Nineveh of Sennacherib or hundred- 
gated Thebes is but inadequately to depict the situation, for 
it was a longer step than that. Such chances do not come 
twice to mankind, for when two grades of culture so widely 
separated are brought into contact, the stronger is apt to 
blight and crush the weaker where it does not amend and 
transform it. In spite of its foul abominations, one some- 
times feels that one would like to recall that extinct state 
of society in order to study it. The devoted lover of his- 
tory, who ransacks all sciences for aid toward understanding 
the course of human events, who knows in what unexpected 
ways one stage of progress often illustrates other stages, will 
sometimes wish it were possible to resuscitate, even for one 
brief year, the vanished City of the Cactus Rock. Could 
such a work of enchantment be performed, however, our 
first feeling would doubtless be one of ineffable horror and 
disgust, like that of the knight in the old English ballad, 
who, folding in his arms a damsel of radiant beauty, finds 
himself in the embrace of a loathsome fiend!" 



THE AGE OF CORTES 137 

After such an excursion into the realms of imagination, 
our Professor takes himself severely in hand, and tells us 
just what the magic city of Mexico actually was; and in 
this masterly analysis of evidence we cannot do better than 
accept most of his conclusions. 

The city stood at a distance from the shores of the lake 
of nowhere less than three miles; access was had to it by 
means of three causeways, from four to six miles in length, 
and about twenty-five feet wide. The causeways were inter- 
rupted, near the city, by wooden drawbridges, which could 
be raised at a minute's warning; and any one walking on 
them would of course be exposed to attacks from canoes on 
the water. Entering the city, the causeways became streets, 
which met in the centre, where, surrounded by a massive 
stone wall eight feet in height, was a vast court, containing 
some twenty truncated pyramids, for the sacrifices. The 
largest of these was not less than one hundred feet in height. 
It was ascended by steps ; but the total ascent was divided 
into five stages, each stage affording a platform or terrace 
entirely encircling the pyramid, so that the sacrifi^cial pro- 
cessions, going Up the first flight of steps, could then turn to 
the right, and go up the steps on the next adjoining side ; on 
the second terrace another partial circumvagation would be 
made, until, by the time the summit was reached, the entire 
pyramid had been environed; with great enhancement of 
the scenic effect. Whether the latter was the object of the 
builders, remarks Professor Fiske, we cannot determine; but 
at all events that was the result. 

The mountain of Chapultepec, afterward famous as the 
scene of a battle between antagonists very different from 
those we are at present considering, rose close to the soutli- 
west margin of the lake; and from it an aqueduct was built 
to the city ; which, inasmuch as the waters of the lake itself 
were salt, was an important element in the situation. The 
streets of the city, other than the causeway continuations, 
were generally canals, crowded with canoes, and bearing a 
strong resemblance, of course, to the canals of Venice, which 



138 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERIOri 

were tliea famous all over the civilized world. But the ca- 
noes of the Aztecs, iustead of beiug black, like the Venetian 
gondolas, were brightly decorated with paint and feathers; 
and tlie buildings wliich looked do\NTi upon tliem were as 
lustrous, in the sunshine, as the pUtw^es of the Queen of the 
Adriatic, though of course entirely hu3king in the beauty 
of Italiaai ai'chitecture. These buildings were uniformly of 
vast size, containing, each of them, at leiist as many as two 
'hundred inhabitants; they were built of blocks of i*ed stone, 
generally overlaid with white cement; tJie height was never 
more than two stories, and thej* enclose<l spacious courts. 
The windows on the outside were mere loopholes; the flat 
roofs were surreunded by low stone parapets, interrupted 
occasionally by towers; all with a view to defence. Con- 
sidering that the inhabitants of the city were much scamped 
for room, their scheme of building does not seem economical; 
but in that warm climate it was probably the only feasible 
one for decent comfort. Yet it seems as if a third story 
might have been addeil; and if we are to believe the as^- 
sertiou that most of the houses were surrounded by gardens 
cont*ining flowers, we can only suppose tha"! the inhabitants 
pr«>ftnTed such gardens tcT living-room. Flowers certainly 
were the favorite luxury of this people ; besides these exter- 
nal flower-gardens, tie roofe were often covered with them ; 
and in the lake, round about the city, were moored immense 
rafts, or floating ganlens, covered with black loam, on which 
plants and vegetables were gro■w^l. Flowers were used for 
ceremonial and sacrificial purposes, but they were also loved 
for their own sake; and there is extant a native poem to 
prove it. "They led me within a valley to a fertile spot," 
sings the poet, "a flowery spot, where the dew spread out 
a glittering splendor, where I saw various lovely fragrant 
flowers, lovely odorous flowers, clothed with dew, scattered 
ai-ound in rainbow glory; there they said to me, 'Pluck the 
flowers, whichever thou wishest, mayest thou the singer be 
glad, and give them to thy friends, to the chiefs, that they 
may rejoice on the earth.' " Of the houses there are sup- 



THE AGE OF CORTES 139 

posed to have been about three hundred, containing an ag- 
gregate of sixty thousand people. Doors there were none ; 
for doors are an appanage of civilization, and had therefore 
not yet been invented in Mexico; though one might surmise 
that no doors, or portieres of cotton or bamboo, might be 
more comfortable there than doors with latches and locks — 
which last, again, would hardly be worth while in a society 
where the right of private property was so imperfectly rec- 
ognized. The doorways could be barricaded at need, how- 
ever; and cotton and feathered screens or hangings were 
common. Birds of brilliant plumage abounded in the coun- 
try, and the people were as fond of them as of flowers, and . 
used their feathers constantly in decoration and adornment. 
Truly, with the flowers and the feathers, the canoes and the 
white cement, the moving crowds and the sunshine, Tenoch- 
titlan must have showed a splendid front to the Spanish 
invaders! 

Mexico and the adjoining countries afford many varieties 
of ornamental woods, and these were employed for the inte- 
rior fittings of the houses, cedar predominating. The walls 
were hung with tapestries woven of humming-bird skins, 
parrots, pheasants, cardinal-birds; there was little furniture, 
beyond low tables and stools; beds consisted of palm-leaf 
mats laid one on another on the floor. Cushions, in the 
Oriental fashion, were used to sit on at meals, the dining- 
tablos being set round the room, and the guests reclining 
or sitting with their backs against the wall. In the middle 
of the room, at meal-times, stood a burning brazier, into 
which, before eating anything, each guest threw a portion 
of food for the benefit of the always hungry fire-god. The 
food was various and well-cooked. Of vegetables there was 
a good choice; Indian meal was employed in divers ways — 
beaten up with eggs, baked as bread, and covering pies as 
crust. Pungent sauces were used in the stews and ragouts. 
There was plenty of fish, and animal foods to which our 
menus are strangers were eaten by the epicures with a 
freedom from prejudice which reminds one of the Chinesec 
— 7 



140 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Ants and frog-spawn were favorites, and "a fricassee of very 
young children" was much fancied; it was held superior to 
anv other preparations of human flesh. Next to human 
babies, turkey was best liked; the turkey being indigenous 
to Mexico, whence, in the course of centuries, it has spread 
over civilization. The bird, owing to the popular error as 
to the geographical location of America, was called turkey to 
indicate its supposed Oriental origin. In serving the viands, 
chafing dishes were employed; the bowls and plates were 
made of native earthenware ; there were no forks or spoons 
except those which nature has provided in the shape of 
thumbs and fingers. For drink, there was chocolate fla- 
vored with vanilla, and, as an intoxicant, pulque, made 
from maguey juice. This was drunk after the meal, ac- 
companied by pipes and tobacco. Upon the whole, the 
Aztecs seem to have been by no means averse from in- 
dulgence in the pleasures of the table. 

There were no shops in Mexico, but fairs were held in 
two large market-places twice in ten days, trade being con- 
ducted mainly by barter, though there was a rudimentary 
currency in the form of quills filled with gold dust, and bags 
of cocoa seed ; also bits of copper. The wares were brought 
to town on litters, the only Mexican vehicle except canoes. 
All manner of goods were offered; building-tools and ma- 
terials, weapons, mats, stools, cloths, dyestuffs, ornaments, 
pottery. On market days booths were erected for the trial 
of criminals, and the operations of justice were quick and 
severe. Barbers' shops also abounded, and the Aztec could 
get his thin beard shaved with razors of obsidian. One can 
easily picture the lively and picturesque scene; a strange, 
bloody-minded, beauty-loving, fierce, self-indulgent people, 
"half devil and half 'child.''' 

As has already been mentioned, the staple article of 
clothing was the cotton cloak and doublet for the men, 
and long robe for the women; they were dyed, fringed 
and embroidered, and sashes confined them at the waist. 
In cold weather capes and jackets of fur or feathera were 



THE AGE OF CORTES 141 

worn; the feet were shod with sandals, and instead of hats 
there were hoods of white cotton. Gold and silver brace- 
lets, anklets, earrings, nose rings and finger rings jingled 
and shone, as to-day in India; the hair was worn long, and 
was dyed purple by the women ; while the tawny faces were 
painted red or yellow, and the teeth stained with cochineal. 
A crowd of Mexicans must have somewhat resembled a 
throng of glittering birds and insects. 

The chief festival and ceremony of the Mexicans, and 
of the most frequent recurrence, was the human sacrifice. 
After the victims had been fattened, and led to the summit 
of the pyramid, they were stretched face upward on a large 
convex block of jasper, which caused the chest to be thrown 
upward, thereby rendering it easy for the priest, with his 
sharp stone knife, to divide it with a slashing blow, and 
snatch out the still beating heart, which was the especial 
tid-bit for the god. After the work had been going on for 
a while, hearts were in evidence everywhere, smoking on 
the various altars; while the rest of the corpse was sent 
to the kitchens below, to be cooked for the feast. Hearts 
were also, occasionally, put between the god's lips with a 
gold spoon; or the mouth of the idol was merely smeared 
with blood. The entrails were given to the rattlesnakes, 
which were kept in enclosures in great quantity, being re- 
garded as sacred, and other refuse parts of the bodies were 
fed to a menagerie of beasts kept for that purpose. Every 
part of the sacred buildings was drenched and painted with 
fresh blood ; and as if this was not enough, there was close 
by a structure called tzompantli, which is described by Ban- 
croft as "an oblong sloping parallelogram of earth and ma- 
sonry, one hundred and fifty-four feet at the base, ascended 
by thirty steps, on each of which were skulls. Round the 
summit were upward of seventy raised poles about four feet 
apart, connected by numerous rows of cross poles passed 
through holes in the masts, on each of which five skulls 
were filed, the sticks being passed through the temples. In 
the centre stood two towers or columns made of skulls and 



142 HISTOKY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

lime, the face of each skull heing turned outward, giving a 
horrible appearance to the whole. This effect was height- 
ened by leaving the heads of distinguished captives in their 
natural state, with hair and skin on. As the skulls decayed, 
or fell from the towers or poles, they were replaced by oth- 
ers, so that no vacant place was left." Decidedly it is diffi- 
cult to sympathize with the predilections and practices of 
some of our American aborigines. But people get accus- 
tomed to things which seem at firet revolting; and just as 
the Roman populace enjoyed the scenes of the amphitheatre 
in the days of the emperors, and as contemporary Spanish 
men and women flock with enthusiasm to bull-fights, so no 
doubt did our Aztec predecessors find their human sacrifices 
pleasant and appetizing; while the priests who did the 
butchering were perhaps ennuied, and needed the applause 
of the spectators in order to perform their functions with 
spirit and zest. The work must really have been arduous, 
if we are to believe the statement of a native historian, who 
asserts that on one occasion the number of victims footed up 
to eighty thousand. 

Montezuma, awed by the supernatural reputation of his 
visitors, refurbished by their late Cholul an exploit, was in 
an imcertain frame of mind when they appeared at the bor- 
ders of his domain, and requested safe-conduct into the city. 
That he did not Avant them under his roof may be taken for 
granted; but it is no less plain that he disliked to assume the 
responsibility of sending word that he was "not at home." 
For aught any could tell, they might thereupon rise into the 
air, and swoop down upon him thence; or cause their father 
the sun to shed a "pestilence upon the city, or burn it up with 
fire. There was no time to spend in debating the matter; 
it had already been debated again and again, and the result 
had always been that, as in Cempoala, two opposite opin- 
ions had been developed, one for resistance at all hazards, 
the other for submission. That the priests of the gods 
hostile to Quetzalcoatl belonged to the former party may 
be safely assumed^ since the advent of the Spanish must be 



THE AGE OF CORTES 143 

equally objectionable to them, whether they were gods or 
simply human adventurers; and the possibility that resist- 
ance to them might ultimately lead to their appearance on 
the jasper block was too alluring to be contemplated with 
equanimity. Nevertheless, the counsels of the temporizers 
prevailed ; Cortes was waiting, and if he were kept waiting 
he would get angry; let him be admitted! Accordingly 
courteous messages were sent him, and the steel-clad army 
with its thousand Tlascalan allies entered the causeway ad- 
,loining Ixtapalapan, and began their march across it. And 
if Montezuma watched their approach with mixed feelings, 
we may suppose that Cortes was hardly less a prey to anx- 
iety. Seldom has it fallen to the lot of a soldier to embark 
upon so hazardous an enterprise. 

Indeed it was as nearly certain as anything in the future 
can be, that the Spaniards would not see the end of the ad- 
venture without fighting; and it required a sanguine and 
dauntless temper to anticipate a favorable issue to such a 
fight. The Aztecs outnumbered them at least a hundred 
to one, and after making all allowances for the Spanish 
superiority of arms and armor, the mere brute force of 
numbers was enough to decide the victory. Besides, fight- 
ing in a city can never be to the advantage of the stranger 
party; in a hundred ways the inhabitants have the better 
of it. The Spaniards could be hemmed in within a certain 
area, or building, and prevented from getting out until they 
were either starved to death, or gradually destroyed in de- 
tail. Moreover, the supernatural prestige which they at 
first enjoyed could not fail to be dissipated in time, and 
when the persuasion that resistance to them was impossible 
or impious was gone, the revulsion of feeling would make 
their situation more precarious than if they had confessed 
their mortal state at first. No: unless in the event of some 
almost inconceivable good fortune, the only way to subdue 
Mexico would be, in the end, to do it by |orce; in other 
words, each individual Spanish soldier must face the pos- 
sibility of having to kill with his own hand from fifty to 



144 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

a hundred of the enemy. It was a desperate chance ; but 
Cortes was just the man to accept it. In fact, now that 
he had gone so far, there could be no turning back. 

Meanwhile, all was poHteness on. both sides, and assur- 
ances of mutual esteem. The strangers entered the city, 
between the gazing, fluttering, glittering, painted crowds 
of cm-ious and excited Aztecs who thronged the narrow 
streets and overflowed on the roofs of the great houses; 
staring with such consuming interest as the spectacle of 
creatures more than mortal might be expected to inspire, 
yet with their awe mingled with distrust and animosity, and 
with the characteristic longing to see these white-faced and 
long-bearded tyrants brought to submission and slaughter 
on the sacrificial block. With murmurings, shouts, callings, 
pressings forward, shiftings, stragglings, gesticulations, the 
many-hued throng heaved and swayed to give them passage, 
and closed upon them as thej' passed. Onward rolled the 
great procession, Cortes and the other officers visible above 
the rest on their terrible horses, the cannon trundling heavily 
along the cemented streets, the men-at-arms marching rigidly 
aligned, their swords clanking at their thighs, the sun glitter- 
ing on their head-pieces and breast-plates. Rank after rank 
passed on, each marching within a sword's length of its 
predecessor, and extending perhaps three-quarters of a mile 
in all; then followed the Tlascalans, twice as numerous, but 
pushing forward irregularly, and eyed with hardly disguised 
hostihty by their hereditary enemies. One fancies that, since 
Cortes must be so bold, he might better have been yet a little 
bolder, and have left these native allies of his behind. When 
the crisis came, their help could not be decisive; and mean- 
while, their presence could but inflame the feeling against 
both them and the Spaniards, and support the suspicion that 
gods who accepted mortal allies might not be such redoubt- 
able gods after all. Certainly, the Tlascalans could have 
been more easily spared than Malina, whose knowledge, 
penetration and faithfulness were of a value which it would 
be difficult to overestimate. 



THE AGE OF CORTES 145 

One of the large council-houses or Tecpans had been 
assigned as the lodging place of the visitors; there was 
ample room in it for not the Spaniards only, but for the 
Tlascalans likewise. It was defensible of course; but it 
would be just as difficult to break out of it, should the 
Mexicans close it in, as to break into it, if the Spaniards 
stood a siege. There was, in short, no such thing as safety 
to be looked for, save in the courage and resources o£ the 
invaders themselves. Sixty thousand savage hearts were 
longing for the destruction of the white men, and as many 
insatiable stomachs were yearning to entomb them. What- 
ever Cortes did must be done without delay, while the coun- 
sels of the enemy were still unsettled. 

The experience gained on the journey to Mexico here stood 
the captain in good stead; and the information imparted by 
Malina supplemented it. There was only one way to disarm, 
for a time at least, overt hostilities ; and that was to effect 
the capture of the chief-of-men. For it was by the latter 
alone that the taking of the auspices before fighting could 
be performed ; and without taking these auspices no Mexi- 
can would venture to begin a battle, inasmuch as the gods 
would be thereby set against them from the start. Monte- 
zuma, as chief-of-men, was Lord Priest of Huitzilopochtli, 
and in the dance of ceremony he was clad in the garment 
made of human skin sacred to that office. He was also the 
living representative of the same deity, and as such wore 
blue garments and a necklace and crown of turquoises. 
Upon his forehead was a gold clasp shaped like the beak 
of a humming-bird, which identified him with the war-god 
himself, and which none other could wear without sacrilege. 
If, therefore, Cortes could secure his person, he would have 
the whip-hand over all true Aztec believers, so long as Mon- 
tezuma remained alive. It was a desperate expedient, but 
there was no alternative ; and before the Spaniards had been 
a week in the city, an incident occurred which precipitated 
the stroke. The small Spanish garrison left at Vera Cruz 
on the coast had got into a fight with some of Montezuma's 



146 HISTORY OF SPANISH A3IERICA 

tax-gatherers, and though the latter had been defeated, sev- 
eral of the alleged divine white men had been killed — which 
of course pricked the bubble of their invulnerability on the 
spot. Upon learning of this mishap, the pious leader sum- 
moned his officers to prayer, and the next day, with Malina 
and Alvarado (one of his captains, with the red hair and 
herculean figure of a Sca,udinavian Berserker), he went 
forth and made a call upon the chief -of -men. The subject 
brought up for discussion was the affair at Vera Cruz, 
which, Cortes intimated, had been described to him as due 
to the secret influence or orders of Montezuma. Montezuma 
denied the imputation, and sent a messenger after the dehn- 
quent. Cortes assured him that he did not doubt his word, 
but suggested that, while the matter was being adjusted, it 
would gratify him to have Montezuma take up his quarters 
at the Spanish lodgings as a formal guarantee of good faith; 
the councils could meet there, and the despatch of routine 
pubUc business need be in no respect interrupted. Monte- 
zuma had no liking at all for the scheme, but he was unable 
to find sound arguments with which to combat it; and he 
felt the hand of steel within the Spaniard's velvet g]ove. 
There was a fatal weakness in the Aztec's character which 
made him no match for one of the strongest and most subtle 
minds of that age. He finally accepted the unwelcome but 
always courteous invitation, and was domiciled in the Span- 
ish headquarters, where he was treated "with the most dis- 
tinguished consideration," and was allowed to hold as many 
coimcils as he pleased, and even to attend ceremonies in the 
temple once in a while, though nBver without a strong guard 
of heavily armed Spaniards. It was not easy for any one to 
pick technical flaws in this procedure, though it was plain 
enough that Cortes had made himself the real ruler of Te- 
nochtitlan, with Montezuma as his helpless tool. "When the 
offending chief of tax-gatherers arrived from Vera Cruz, it 
was by Cortes ^;hat he was tried and condemned, the sen- 
tence being that he be burned alive in the public square; 
and upon the pyre, at Cortes's order, were heaped up a vast 



THE AGE OF CORTES 147 

quantity of darts and arrows collected from the Aztec ar- 
senal, which were thus burned up out of harm's way along 
with the ill-starred official. This incident shows to what an 
extent the Aztecs were hypnotized by the tactics of Cortes, 
and the want of some one with authority to tell them what 
to do. The institutions of barbarians are not flexible, and 
they die of strangulation by red-tape even more unresistingly 
than do we heirs of modern civilization. 

But Montezuma had a brother, Cuitlahuatzin by name, 
who allied himself with the tribal chiefs of Tezcuco and 
Tlacopan to release him from his Spanish captors. It was 
a crude conspiracy, useful only to the romancers of a long 
subsequent age as material for dramatic intrigue. Cortes 
had foreseen attempts of that kind, and was forewarned by 
Malina of its progress, so that he was ready to scotch it 
when the time came. He took his measures so well that 
he presently had the three conspiring chiefs in his power, 
and added them to his collection in the chambers of the 
tecpan. By thus imprisoning the successor of Montezuma 
he greatly strengthened his control over the' situation ; and 
his next step was to do away with the images of the gods 
in the temples and on the pyramids. After denuding one of 
the latter of its sacred accessories, he had its altar washed 
clean of the accumulated blood of years, sprinkled it with 
holy water, and erected upon it a crucifix and a statue of 
the Virgin Mary ; then causing the populace to assemble in 
the square, he had mass performed in their presence, which 
they doubtless supposed to be a new rite in the worship of 
Quetzalcoatl. Contrary to all reasonable expectation, at all 
events, they did not explode in wrathful rebellion at all this 
audacious impudence, but let it go on in a sullen mood of 
toleration all that winter. In April, however, danger came 
from the quarter where it had least been looked for, and once 
again the generalship and presence of mind of Cortes was put 
to a test which few besides himself could have survived. 

It appears that Velasquez, governor of Cuba, had not 
remained quiescent under the tacit defiance of his commands 



148 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

by Cortes, but had spent bis time in providing means to re- 
duce him to obedience, and to inflict upon him a suitable 
Spanish punishment. He had raised an army of twelve 
hundred men, and had embarked them on eighteen ships, 
the entire expedition being intrusted to the leadership of 
Pamfilo de Narvaez; whose ordei-s were to pursue the too 
independent captain, arrest him, and produce him, body 
and bones, before the offended majesty of the govei'nor. 
Narvaez had set sail accordingly, and was even now 
ashore at San Juan de Ulloa, ready to march for Tenoch- 
titlan. This news was brought by the Aztec couriers in 
picture writing, and was made known to Cortes as promptly 
as to Montezuma. 

What was to be done? It was all very well to bamboozle 
supei-stitious natives armed only with bows and arrows and 
protected by cotton doublets; but an army of twelve hun- 
dred Spanish soldiers was not to be subdued by a third as 
many men of their own kith and kin. "What another man 
might have done we may easily surmise; but Cortes was in 
a class by himself. He made up his mind, on the spot, to 
turn one of the greatest calamities that could have happened 
to him into a means of securing his position. He would 
prove once more that he understood human nature better 
than did Velasquez, or most other people before the era of 
Shakespeare. This was the time that either was to make 
him, or undo him quite. 

Without losing a moment, he called his Bereerker Alva- 
rado, and appointed him deputy-ruler of Tenochtitlan in his 
place. He left with him one hundi-ed and fifty of his Span- 
ish soldiers, and the Tlascalans ; with the remaining three 
hundred he set out bj- forced marches for the coast. Nar- 
vaez, who seems to have observed the Spanish policy of 
**mafiana," was looking for anything rather than Cortes; 
and was amusing himself in innocent security with reviews 
and preparations for the easy campaign which he imagined 
lay before him. Upon him thus agreeably preoccupied came 
down Cortes like a thunderbolt from blue sky, attacked and 



THE AGE OF CORTES 149 

captured him without a word of warning or the least pre- 
tence of ceremony ; and having got the leader himself safely 
in his pocket, proceeded to exercise his powers of persuasion 
upon his army; He called them together, and unfolded a 
picture of the delights of Tenochtitlan and the boundless 
fortunes to be made there by all honest and self-respecting 
Spaniards, in such colors as proved not only seductive but 
irresistible. His own men, mingling with their brethren, 
supported his every assertion, and as earnest of the truth 
of the tale displayed the glittering trinkets which they had 
gathered during their sojourn. Flesh and blood could not 
withstand it; and without so much as a kick or a blush, the 
whole twelve hundred accepted the situation, chose Cortes 
as the general, and were ready to be led by him to gold and 
glory. The priests who had accompanied the expedition were 
captivated by the vast and inviting field for missionary labor 
which was disclosed to them by the great soldier, and cast 
in their lot with the rest. Cortes had triumphed; and, in 
the very midnight of blackest disaster, had caused to arise 
the noonday sun of prosperity. He did not give his new 
converts time to reconsider their determination, but started 
at once on his return march, at the head of fifteen hundred 
men. To be great is always money in a man's pocket, as 
the phrase runs. 

But the greatest men are after all but human and finite; 
and one of the things they cannot do is to make their lieuten- 
ants as great as themselves. Cortes's lieutenant Alvarado was 
brave enough, but lacked the saving prudence and self-com- 
mand of a Ulysses — which, in the circumstances, was quite 
as desirable as the audacity of Achilles. After Cortes had 
taken his departure, rumors came to Alvarado's ears that 
certain chiefs were stirring up rebellion against his rule ; his 
nerves were not steady enough to sit still and wait for the 
alleged plot to mature, and he made up his mind to quell it 
by taking the initiative himself. As it happened, the natu- 
ral progress of affairs afforded him what he deemed to be an 
admirable opportunity to carry out his plan. 



150 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

There was a certain great Aztec religious festival each 
year, in celebrating which they laid aside all preparations 
for war, and other business, and gave themselves wholly up 
to the service of the gods. This was the May festival, in 
honor of the annual return of green grass and tinted flow- 
ers; and the god Tezcatlipoca was the central figure of the 
ceremonies. Twenty days before the culminating event, a 
young man was selected from among the inhabitants of the 
pueblo, distinguished above others for his manly beauty and 
prowess ; and to him were assigned four lovely girls as brides. 
Duiing twenty days this youth was kept in apartments fitted 
up with every luxury that Aztec resources could provide, and 
was made the object of divine honors; for he was indeed re-, 
garded as the physical incarnation of the god. Every sense 
was flattered, every desire gratified — unless, to be sure, he 
should happen to desire freedom to go about his business; 
but it is improbable that in that age and environment any 
petty frailty of that kind would invade the religious exalta- 
tion which must be assumed to have possessed him. It is 
comparatively easy to submit even to have one's breast cut 
open, and the heart snatched thence, if such has been the 
custom of the time during unknown ages. We know that 
people did not seem to mind being burned at the stake in 
early Christian days, or suffering the torments of the In- 
quisition at the hands of Spain; they smiled and sometimes 
jested with their executioners; and no better reason for this 
ghastly indifference is conceivable than that they were vica- 
riously used to it. What so many others had undergone and 
were undergoing, they too could undergo. 

On the one and twentieth day the crowning ceremony took 
place. Now must the divine youth leave his flowery apart- 
ments, his dainty banquets and the tender embraces of his 
brides, and walk in solemn procession to the sacrificial altar, 
stepping on fragrant flowers, surrounded and followed by 
many youths and maidens, chanting his praises, and paying 
him divine homage. Onward must he fare, amid the white- 
clad throng, welcomed with the plaudits and reverence of 



THE AGE OF CORTES 151 

the great populace, to where, at the end of the journey, the 
wolfish priests waited for him at the summit of the pyramid. 
Arrived there, he looked his last upon the clear blue heavens 
and the white city and the green earth and rippUng waters; 
he heard for the last time the murmuring voices of the spec- 
tators massed on all sides around him, tilling the court, the 
streets, the roofs; he felt against his shoulders the pressure 
of the jasper stone; he felt the priest snatch away the vest- 
ment from his bosom, and saw, with swimming eyes, the 
knife rushing downward at his life. All was then over for 
him; but his body was severed into scores of fragments, 
which the leading chiefs came forward to claim, and which 
they duly and piously devoured for supper. — It was this day 
which Alvarado selected as the fitting juncture for his attack. 

Alvarado took the view of the ordinary soldier or fighter, 
who, when he sees, or thinks he sees, his adversary aiming 
a blow at him, tries to neutralize it by knocking his man 
down first. Alvarado also had acquired the notion that the 
Aztecs were incorrigible cowards ; basing this opinion, plaus- 
ibly enough, on the fact that, hitherto, they had put up with 
conduct on the part of the Spaniards which no self-respecting 
European would endure for a moment. He did not have 
penetration enough to see, as Cortes probably did, that they 
feared not man but the gods ; that it was religious scruples, 
not dread of death in battle, that had kept them quiet so far. 
Accordingly he believed that if he fell upon them unawares 
and cut a few hundred of them to pieces, they would become 
quieter than ever. 

Watching his opportunity, then, he sallied out of the 
tecpan with a squad of his men, and began slashing and 
shooting at the passing procession with much fury, and with 
such good effect that some six hundred of the unarmed fes- 
tival-makers, including many of the chiefs, were then and 
there murdered; possibly the divine youth escaped in the 
confusion, but as to that the testimony is not conclusive. 
Before the Aztecs had got their wits together, their assail- 
ants were back in their fortress ; but instead of enduring the 



153 HISTORY OF SPANISH a:\IERICA 

oatrage qnietly, the infuriated Mexicans swarmed around 
the massive walls, and began a determined effort to tear 
them down or undermine them. Alvarado realized his error: 
if those walls fell, the fate of himself and liis companions 
was certain : everr mother's son of them would be stewing 
in the kettle before night. In this emergency it occurred 
to him to use his captive as a safeguard; and by dint of dire 
threats he prevailed upon Montezuma to mount the battle- 
ment, and plead with the people to desist. The unfortunate 
chief must have been thoroughly cowed ; but his appeal was 
successful for the time being, and the besiegers sullenly 
retired; but they reUeved their feelings in some degree by 
setting fire to the brigantines which the Spaniards had been 
constructing during the winter, designing them as a means 
of escaping from the city, should the "worst come to the 
worst, otherwise than by the causeways. The Spaniards 
were only saved from dying by hunger and thirst by the 
extraordinary good luck of finding a spring of fresh water 
inside the teepan, and by the foresight of Cortes, who had 
caused com enough to be stored away to last them some 
months. But even so, the predicament was irksome enough ; 
and for aught Alvarado could tell, Cortes might have been 
worsted by Xarvaez, and the latter be on his way to inflict 
condign penalties upon himself likewise. 

But Cortes was on the high wave of prosperity; and by 
the last week in June he came in sight of the great pueblo. 
It did not take him long to see that all was not well ; there 
was no polite deputation at the entrance of the causeway 
to greet him ; everything was grim, silent and deserted : the 
drawbridges were up, the streets empty, and the few people 
who showed themselves wore a very sour and menacing 
expression. It was not imtil he arrived at the teepan that 
Cortes ceased to fear the worst, and met with a greeting, 
the genuine dehght of which was obviously not assumed. 
Alvarado told his tale, £md was soundly rated by Cortes for 
his suicidal folly : all the diplomacy of the latter was thrown 
away ; there was nothing for it now but to prepare for blows. 



THE AGE OF CORTES 153 

But, as a last expedient to avert the trouble, Cortes took a 

step which was if possible even more foolish than Alvarado's 
massacre. It seems hardly credible that, with Malina and 
the Tlascalans to advise him, he should not have known 
that it would be throwing away his trump card to let Mon- 
tezuma's brother and legal successor, Cuitlahuatzin, get out 
of his grasp ; nevertheless, this is what he did. It was true 
that while a chief -of-men remained aUve it was not custom- 
ary for him t-o be deposed and his successor elected; yet, in 
great emergencies, this act was within the powers of ths 
tribal council; and the only reason they had not exercised 
this power after Alvarado's escapade was because Cuitlahuat- 
zin w^ a prisoner with Montezuma. But now Cortes, realiz- 
ing that his twelve hundred new men were making terrible 
inroads upon his provisions, bade Cuitlahuatzin go forth and 
command the people to reopen the markets (which had been 
closed), in order that the suppHes of the Spanish might be 
replenished. Inwardly rejoicing at this good fortune, the 
young man betook himself to the chiefs, convened the tribal 
council, stated the case to them, and was by them imme- 
diately elected to be chief -of -men, Montezuma being deposed. 
Xow the long repressed fury of revenge burst forth among 
the Mexicans in a terrible storm. The night passed with 
ominous forebodings; with dawn the Spaniards saw the 
whole city changed into a camp of raging warriors. "With 
mingled outcries that roared like an angry sea, they filled 
the streets, the roofs, the pyramids, and every coign of van- 
tage whence an arrow could fly, or a spear be hurled, or a 
stone slung. The bombardment from the summit of the 
high pyramid was especially galling; and arrows carrying 
fire were shot in through the loopholes, and set the interior 
woodwork in a blaze. Cortes replied with his cannon, and 
scores fell in the thronged streets at each discharge; but 
the frenzied Indians were not dismayed, but charged more 
fiercely than ever; and the number of kiUed and wounded 
Spaniards began to be greater than could by any means be 
afforded. Finally poor Montezuma was again sent up on 



154 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

the roof to make another attempt at pacification; but his 
hour of influence was gone. His appearance was greeted 
with yells of reproach and menace ; his words fell on deaf 
ears; his sanctity and authority were no more. On the con- 
trary he was made the target of the Aztec marksmen ; and 
while he stood there before them, too miserable to care to 
escape, a heavy stone struck him in the forehead, and he fell. 
The Spaniards took him under shelter: but he had received 
his death- wound, though no doubt anguish of mind hastened 
the end. Seeing this last means of pacification had failed, 
Cortes became the savage soldier, and ordered a sortie to 
capture the great temple, where the chief idols were, and 
from which the most dangerous attacks had been delivered. 
Collecting a band of men ready to dare all hazards, he burst 
forth with them upon the howling street, and hewed his way 
through solid walls of strugghng human bodies to his goal. 
The fighting of that day could be described only by a Homer ; 
the air was full of missiles, many of which found their way 
through the joints of the Spanish armor, and their wearers 
fell, to be trampled by thek own desperate comrades, or to 
be shredeied to pieces by the frantic barbarians. And all the 
while the sword arms rose and fell, and blood spurted and 
gushed upon the cemented pavements, and heads and limbs 
were sheared away, and through many a fimous heart the 
thirsty Toledo blade rushed to the hilt. Cuitlahuatzin cheered 
on his warriors by words and example, and they flung them- 
selves against those rigid ranks of steel with terrible despe- 
ration. But Cortes would not be defeated; all the tiger in 
him was aroused and he fought with a cool and deadly feroc- 
ity which nothing could withstand. Slowly but irresistibly 
the Spanish line was advanced, plimging through parapets 
of writhing carnage ; beat upon from all sides, but uncon- 
querable. At last the temple was reached, and up the sides 
of the great pyramid swarmed the soldiers, drenched with 
blood, while the Aztecs, not venturing to follow them, 
swarmed beneath. A few priests, perhaps, dared to remain 
to die upon their sacred domain; but their shrift was short. 



THE AGE OF CORTES 155- 

Death to the pagans and annihilation to their gods! And 
down came the grinning idols from, their lofty perches, crash- 
ing down, shattered, among their worshippers, dashing out 
once more the human life which had so often been offered 
up in their honor. And fire was set to the blood-stained 
shrines, and all trace of the hideous worship of the Aztec 
gods was burned away. It was a deed of wild reckless- 
ness, yet it was a deed of policy too; for the Aztecs were 
appalled by the monstrous sacrilege, and stood aloof, while 
the men or demons who had perpetrated it came down from 
their work and began the retreat to their stronghold. Surely 
the outraged gods themselves would avenge the act ! But 
the gods lay broken where they were hurled, and no hght- 
ning from heaven or earthquake from below came to blast 
or devour their desecrators. • Back along the gory road which 
they had come went the Spaniards, weary but more than 
ever formidable ; and the huge walls of the tecpan received 
them. The day was done. 

The next day Montezuma breathed his last, and Cortes 
saw that nothing was left for him but to evacuate the city. 
Were he to remain, it could only be a question of time when 
he would be destroyed; his men would be picked off one by 
one; his provisions would fail, his ammunition be exhausted; 
and when defence was no longer possible, the survivors would 
be dragged to the sacrificial block. It was the first day of 
July when he gave the order to march, and out upon the 
deserted street filed in serried ranks the grim invaders. They 
had expected to be attacked at once ; but their approach to 
the causeway was almost unopposed. Cuitlahuatzin, how- 
ever, was far from intending to let his hated enemies escape. 
He fully understood the advantage which the retreat of the 
Spaniards along the five miles of narrow causeway would 
give him; and he improved it to the utmost. No sooner had 
the first drawbridge been passed than the attack began. The 
whole male population of the confederacy flung themselves 
upon the foe. All retreat was shut off; and it was impos- 
sible for the Spaniards to mass themselves for resistance 



156 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

npon the causeway. On both sides of them swarmed canoes 
filled with waiTioi"s; from behind and in front the headlong; 
charges were delivered; every moment a Spaniard fell; and 
though the slaughter they iuliicted was greater than on the 
day of the sortie, the eiieet upon .the Aztecs was impercep- 
tible. The long causeway was divided by three drawbridges, 
all of which had been removed. Cortes had provided pon- 
toons, but in attempting to use them they were all but anni- 
hilated. Night fell while the battle was still in it« early 
stages. It would be hard to conceive of a contlict waged 
under conditions more terrific. The Aztecs, swatming up 
the wall on both sides, hurled the Spaniards over, or dragged 
them down into the water, careless of their own lives, if only 
they might taste the delight of knowing tliat the men they 
hated must die. Scores of maddened savages tlung them- 
selves upon each man ; the useless cannon were sunk in the 
lake, and awful struggles took place at every step in the 
bloody waters. Hour after hour of hellish contlict went by, 
every moment of which seemed an age, and in the brooding 
darkness none might know how many still lived to fight. 
What noises struck the ear in that bloody gloom: what dim 
masses of inte^t^^'ined himianity went down to death upon 
the slippery stones, or sank bubbling and strangling beneath 
the watei-s I Hour after hour of night, of struggle, of agony, 
of uncertiiiuty, of despair and of death, and still the dark 
and savage horde raged round the long-drawn line. Never, 
perhaps, in the history of mankind, has there been known 
a more hideous battle than that which lasted through the 
endless noche tHste of that 1st of July, 15*^0. 

But even that night passed, and the sun rose in the cloud- 
less east, and the birds of bright plumage fluttered among 
the trees as the remnant of the Spanish army reached the 
end of the causeway, and set foot at last on solid earth. A 
remnant only. Of the fifteen hundred men-at-arms who, 
first and last, had landed at Tera Cruz with such high 
hopes, a bare five hundred saw the sun arise that morning; 
and of tliese, forty had been captured by the enemy, and 



THE AGE OF CORTES 157 

were already on their way to the most revolting of imagi- 
nable fates. Of the six thousand Tlascalans, but two thou- 
sand survived ; ■ iorty horses lived of eighty ; and all the can- 
non were at the bottom of the lake. But Cortes lived ; and 
though, beholding the ruin wrought upon his followers, his 
iron soul was melted within him, and he shed bitter tears, 
sitting on a rock beside the bloody lake, yet his spirit and 
resolve were undismayed. More than ever was he deter- 
mined to conquer these desperate barbarians, and give their 
land to Spain, though every foot of it should be wet with 
blood. 

But it is not necessary to follow him through every sub- 
sequent step of his terrible campaign. After a few days he 
was forced to sustain the attack of the combined tribes of 
the region, which hoped to overwhelm his depleted army 
while it was still staggering from the effects of the night 
upon the causeway; but Cortes grimly arose, and inflicted 
upon them so fearful a defeat that even their wild courage 
was appalled. N"or did this success come a day too soon; 
for the Tlascalans. had been wavering in their fealty, and 
were all but ready to unite themselves with the Confederacy. 
But when the news of this battle reached them, they decided 
that such a man as Cortes, mortal or divine, was not a man 
to abandon ; better be with him against the world, than with 
the world against him. Tlascalan patriots there were who 
warned their comrades that slavery to the Spanish must be 
their final fate, unless they improved this opportunity to aid 
in the destruction of the invaders ; fear of him, and heredi- 
tary hatred of the Confederacy, overpowered such argu- 
ments. So, once more, in the moment of deadliest peril, 
Cortes was saved. He spent the autumn in making good 
his foothold in the country, crushing such pueblos as opposed 
him, and allying himself with those which were willing to 
join him in the overthrow of Tenochtitlan. Meanwhile he 
sent the ships of Narvaez back to Hispaniola for more men 
and horses ; and on the eve of Christmas he found himself 
at the head of a new army of more than nine hundred men, 



158 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

witti twelve cannon, ample cavalry, and many thousand 
native allies. 

His first move was against Tezcuco; for until this pueblo 
was subdued, the enemy would have control of the lake. 
But Tezcuco fell into his arms without a struggle ; its chiefs, 
had quarrelled with Tenochtitlan, and welcomed the enemy 
of the latter as friends of their own. The Confederacy being 
thus broken, the campaign became comparatively simple. 
Cortes built a new fleet of brigantines, which was supple- 
mented by innumerable native canoes; and succeeded in 
shutting off the water supply of Tenochtitlan by cutting 
the aqueduct from Chapultepec. In the spring, the siege 
began in earnest; and the unfortunate Aztecs were handi- 
capped near the start by the death by smallpox of their 
chief-of-men Cuitlahuatzin. The latter, however, had a 
nephew, Guatemotzin, who was a man of mettle, and left 
a high reputation as a warrior behind him. He was chosen 
to fill Cuitlahuatzin*s place. But the fate of the great pueblo 
was fixed from the beginning. The Spaniards and their allies 
gradually fastened their grasp upon one after another of the 
causeways, and approached closer and closer to their antag- 
onists. The latter fought with the courage of their despair, 
but they increased the already hopeless odds against them- 
selves by their attempts (occasionally successful) to capture 
Spaniards alive ; when this occurred, Cortes and his men 
were able to see the victims carried up the steps of the 
pyramid and sacrificed thereon, while the barbaric music 
rolled triumphantly across the waters of the lake. The 
Aztecs made a good fight, and it was not until near the 
middle of August that they ceased the struggle; at that 
time the city was in ruins, and filled with bodies of the 
dead. Cortes at once proceeded to extirpate the old relig- 
ion and social customs, and in their stead established Ca- 
tholicism and the Spanish ways and laws. The present 
cathedral was erected in 1573 on the site of the bloodstained 
temple. Having made the city his own, he turned to the 
conquest of the country surrounding it, far and wide; i\o 



THE AGE OF CORTES 159 

Berious resistance was met with, for the other pueblos could 
contend with little hope of success against an enemy who 
had already defeated the strongest and fiercest of them. 
Many cruel atrocities were perpetrated; and it is open to 
question whether the Spanish regime was better in any es- 
sential respect than that which it supplanted. But Cortes, 
though stern, was less bloody-minded and wantonly cruel 
than many of his peers, contemporary and subsequent. It 
is not a pleasant thing to crush a nation ; and the Conquest 
of Mexico takes its place with other similar conquests, neither 
much worse nor much superior to them in atrocity and injusr 
tice. Our own record of dealings with the American abo- 
rigines may serve to soften the asperity of our criticisms 
of the procedure of Spain. 



160 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



II 

PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 

By the time the first half of the sixteenth century was 
past, Spain had fixed her talons on all of Central 
and South America, as well as eaten her way far 
to the north. These vast and fertile regions were the scene, 
during fifty or sixty years, of incredible barbarities, ending 
in the partial or total extermination of whole races; from 
which they never recovered. Spain and death ruled them 
jointly. And for more than two centuries and a half this 
joint reign continued, and no progress was made in civiliza- 
tion ; so that at the beginning of this era the entire extent of 
Spanish America was practically in the same condition as 
in 1560. But in the meantime, a breed had come into exist- 
ence, consisting partly of Spaniards born in America, who, 
though often rich and sometimes intelligent, had always been 
treated as inferiors by the Spaniards born in Spain who were 
sent out to rule them; and partly of a mixture of Spanish 
with Indian blood, who inherited the bad quaUties of both 
sides of their ancestry. The remnants of the pure Indian 
races which had survived lived side by side with these, l?ut 
of course had no voice in the affairs of the countries which 
had been theirs. But finally, about 1810, when the over- 
throw by Napoleon of the Spanish dynasty had also deprived 
her colonies of thejr so-called legitimate ruler, the colonies 
attempted a revolt ; for the foreign-born sons of Spain had 
long groaned under the despotism which their own fore- 
fathers had inflicted upon the Indians. After a decade or 
so, the strangling grasp of the old tyrant, now in her dotage 
(though venomous as ever in purpose and principle), was 
thrown off; but, as might have been expected, the revolu- 
tionists had no skill in self-government; and most of the 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 161 

states began that series of internal struggles and bloody in- 
surrections which have continued with few intermissions up 
to the present day. Upon the whole, one perceives a grad- 
ual amelioration. The immense advance in social and polit- 
ical culture and intelligence of Europe and America (the 
United States) has not been without its effect upon these 
benighted and half -savage countries; and by bitter and san- 
guinary experience they are beginning to learn what .liberty 
really is. Whether they will ever fully acquire the lesson, 
or whether it will be necessary for the United States to take 
them in charge, and administer them in the interests of 
decency and economy, are questions which the near future 
is likely to answer. 

The immediate occasion of the invasion of the Isthmus 
by Spaniards was to obtain slaves to replace those which 
had been murdered in the West Indian islands. Slavery, 
as we know, had existed in the Old World from the earliest 
historical times. There, tribe conquered tribe, and nation 
possessed itself of the domain of nation; and the subjected 
people became the unpaid and involuntary servants of the 
subjugators. But in this slavery, the slaves were often near 
in blood to the masters, or at any rate were not so different 
from them as are negroes from white men. Their servitude 
was often severe, but it was not so unrestrainedly and wan- 
tonly inhuman as was the slavery instituted in the sixteenth 
century, or a little earlier, by Spain. Its tendency, also, was 
to become progressively milder; so that, at the epoch of the 
discovery of America, it had almost died away in its old form 
—the form in which it was handed down by the Romans. 
Between this classic slavery, as we may call it, passing into 
the feudal system, and so into the birth of the "common 
people" of our own day— -between this and modern slavery 
there are a distinction and a difference. 

The inhabitants of the West Indies were of several races; 
but they were aHke in this, that they made poor slaves. 
Some of them were meek enough, others were irreclaimably 
fierce; but neither sort hved well in captivity. To endure 



1C2 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Spanish cruelties and survive required stronger constitutions 
than the native races possessed. At first, the Spaniards cared 
little how fast they died, since there seemed to be an inex- 
haustible supply to draw upon ; and it was easier to get a 
slave to supply the place of one who had perished, than to 
take care of the health or welfare of the latter. But in His- 
paniola and in Cuba the natives died by hundreds, and it 
was plain that stouter stock must be got if possible, other- 
wise how were the mines to be worked? Incursions to Terra 
Firma were made, and natives were kidnapped thence ; but 
there was always a fight to get them, and often the kidnap- 
pers were met in such force that they were unable to effect 
their purpose. Now, as has been recorded above. Prince 
John of Portugal, fifty years before, had collected negro 
slaves on the African coast; and these men, who had been 
slaves in their own country, were a much hardier and more 
serviceable race than the West Indians; and were scarcely 
regarded as human beings by their owners. It is true that 
Prince John had pleaded in his own justification that he had 
imported them with a view to saving their souls; but that 
was one of his amiable eccentricities, not shared by the ma- 
jority of his contemporaries, though they might take advan- 
tage of his argument to clear their own skirts of reproach. 
At all events, when this difficulty about procuring slaves 
in Spanish America arose, it was recalled that the African 
article had shown many advantages, and the suggestion 
was made that the illimitable resources of "the African con- 
tinent should be drawn upon to meet all requirements. It, 
so happened that this suggestion emanated from the man 
who stands out in beautiful distinction from the other Span- 
iards of his time, in his humane attitude toward slaves both 
West Indian and African. This singularity will be shortly 
explained. The suggestion of Las Casas was adopted, and 
thus began the descent upon this country of that sable and 
sinister avalanche which continued (thanks to our own in- 
dustry among others) until the middle of the present cent- 
ury, and the consequences of which are very far from being 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 163 

disposed of. It is to the negro that the "West Indian owes it 
that his race was not utterly extirpated ; and he is the sole 
gainer by the transaction — such gain as it is! 

It is now to be observed that the enslaving of the "West 
Indians was done contrary to the laws and regulations made 
and provided by the Spanish government. Ferdinand and 
Isabella did not intend their slavery, and even forbade it ; 
but under conditions which made their order of no effect. 
The trouble had originated with Columbus, in the following 
manner. On his second voyage he found. difficulties existing 
between the Spanish colo^ists and the Indians, owing to- the 
latter's conduct in objecting to being robbed by the former. 
He wished to live in peace with his native neighbors, and 
cast about for some means of placating them. He discov- 
ered that they were subject to incursions of the Caribs, a 
race unlike the other inhabitants of Hispaniola ; being fierce 
and warlike, and confirmed cannibals; and these evil-minded 
Caribs, it appeared, were in the habit of landing in Hispan- 
iola and carrying off its denizens for dinner. Columbus 
therefore gave permission to his men to make war upon the 
Caribs, and, if possible, to capture them ; and such captives 
might legally be held as slaves. Columbus reasoned that in 
delivering man-eaters to Christian slavery, he was not only 
supplying a crying deficiency in the labor-market, but was 
doing what he could to save the Caribs from perdition ; since 
it was assumed that the Spaniards would not only work their 
slaves to death, but convert them into the bargain. 

The colonists accepted the arrangement amiably enough; 
because they perceived that, when they wanted slaves, it was 
only necessary to go and get natives, and then to declare that 
they were Caribs taken in battle. Anything would answer 
for a Carib, when a slave was required. But the matter did 
not stop here ; not only slaves were wanted, but food also ; 
and this food could be had only by taking it from the na- 
tives. To stop the foraging expeditions, Columbus ordained 
that every native should pay tribute to the colony in some 
small amount ; a bit of gold or of cotton ; the aggregate of 



264 HISTORT OF SPAXLSH AMERICA 

which, from "a large population, would amount to enough for 

the needs of the white men. Upon payment of his tribute, 
each native was to receive a brass token as a receipt, and by 
showing this was reheved of further UabOities till pav day- 
came round again. But should it happen that the tribute- 
payer was short of funds, or for any other reason did not 
settle up on time, he was to be mulcted a few days' labor on 
the plantations or in the mines of his white creditors. Could 
anything be more moderate and reasonable? Nevertheless, 
^vithin a couple of ^years this personal service seemed, some- 
how or other, to have taken the place of every other means 
of paying tribute; and not only individuals, but entire vil- 
lages w^ere set to ^'ork at once. 2s"ext, the island was divided 
into shares — ^repartimientos — each of which was assigned to 
a Spaniard or party of Spaniards, and an adequate number 
of villages was told off to cultivate it, tmder the immediate 
supervision of their chiefe. This was feudal villeinage, and 
might have done well enough, had the feudal chiefs not 
been Spaniards, and had not Columbus, about that time, 
been superseded in his government of the colony. 

In 1502 a gentle little blond governor was sent out, named 
Ovando: not only was he gentle, but he was a knight of a 
religious order; as nearly an angel in short as a Spanish gov- 
ernor could be. And in fact the Spanish regard him as an 
almost ideal figure; for in spite of his gentleness, he was 
strict and prompt in discipline. He had a low voice, mild 
blue eyes, and a "^ell-bred, unobtrusive bearing. His court- 
esy was unfailing; even if his duty forced him to order a 
gentleman to be hanged, or a native to be lopped to pieces, 
he would express his pleasure in so winning a way that it 
ought to have reconciled the culprit to his fate. He ruled 
the roost in Hispaniola for seven years, the record of which 
is extant, and is heavenly reading indeed. We must be brief 
in our excerpts from it here. There was (for example ) a tribe 
■whose chief had been one of those vrho accepted Columbus's 
invitation, pressingly urged, to accompany him on his return 
to Spain. This chief left behind him a wife, Anacaona, who 



PASSING UXDEE THE YOKE 165 

tum^ out to be a notable woman, and made fame for her- 
self. She went so far as to object to -the domination of her 
spiritual friends, the Spaniards, and was suspected of coun- 
selling her tribe to resist, or even to attack them. Ovando 
was too conscientious a governor and too true a soldier of 
Christ j» tolerate such a state of affairs. Hispaniola is a 
warm place; its topography is characterized bv mountains 
and ravines, and these are clothed with a vegetation which 
must be seen to be believed ; barbed- wire fence is not more 
difficult. But an earnest Christian Uke Ovando is not to be 
deterred by any merely tropical obstacles. The village of 
. Anacaona was two hundred miles distant from his own head- 
quarters at San Domingo ; he set out for it with a force of 
three hundred and seventy men, a fifth of them mounted. A 
long and hot march it was, and Ovando might have been par- 
doned had he arrived in rather a heated condition of temper 
as well as of body. But he was just as cool, bland and suave 
when he rode into the astenished village as when he set out 
from San Domingo. He was Uke one of those schoolmasters 
who always wait to chastise a refractory scholar until the 
next day, in order to prove that he does it, not from temper, 
but from dissembled love. He greeted the villagers in the 
most friendly manner ; and they, not being prepared for such 
an invasion, and perceiving that the number of their nnex- 
pected guests was so large, made the best of the situation, 
and were friendly also. They entertained the gentle gov- 
ernor with feasting and games; and he, to requite their 
courtesy, proposed to show them a Spanish tournament. 
This gratified them hugely; and at Ovando's invitation all 
the chief personages of the neighborhood assembled in a 
large wooden hut, where he was at the pains to address 
them, giving, in a sort of lecture, an explanation of the 
interesting entertainment which they were (supposed to be 
about) to witness. He wore on this occasion a tunic on the 
breast of which was an image of God the Father, the badge 
of his religious order. While he was in the thick of his ex- 
planations, his prayerful comrades surrounded the house in 



166 KIS-jBY of SPaVISH A3IZPJCA 

which the exercises were toeing held : and when the lecturer 
r?i5ei his r!gh- h:-." i -j^ ', -A:i it 'afwr-n the holy symboL the 
S:a-_i:.::-5 rj.s_Ti in ..li :: -ni the audience hand and foot 
— :'_is ; ..:;^- L.vij.^ ttH ::i.certed beforehand. Then. 
'e;.~'g :_T l:~ Ti..:^_:ri.f i :_idves on their backs on the 
±:::. :_t7 1t:::t'- ""-:_ :-ie ^rvemor, and se* ire to the 
:;.:ii:ii^ —__:_ ': i^r . : -\::i z.nsnmed the Indians at 
:_T --:_f tliht ^' .,;_.-- _e:-r!.:. however, was not in- 
:.:'.tL :z :_:s _:^::. ;-:. -_r ^^. s taken to a conspicuous 
TTrr : T ^ ri 7 . / L. T. '_er neck, and up into the air she 
■ - t:_ : . !£! : ^- z _ .. ii ;. ;:.-::__ :: g, but preserved henceforth from 
t_T ;_:: :; 'J-TT-Z.^ ;^ ii^: lier spiritual guardians. Ovando 
now inniii^T-i _:e desire that several hundred Indians who 
had been "iTHTiirS of this ••tournament'' should be forth- 
with put to :_T ;rST of having their throats cut, which was 
ei. .1 ^^lasticallv perf<Hined by the soldiers, and not one of 
i:-e su-ject5 of the experiment survived. The little blond 
governor looked upon his work, and pronoimced it good; 
and in testiinonj' that his only object was the benefit of all 
c rncemed, he founded a town upon the ashes and blood of 
-.ir -?-:e inhabitants of the village, named it the City of Peace, 
and bestowed npon it a seal bearing the device of a dove with 
an oHve branch in its bfll. 

Eetuming home with peace in his wake, the gentle knight 
njext proceeded to improve the arrangements instituted by Co- 
ImnbiK. He obtained from the Spanish sovereigns permis- 
8i<ML to make the Tndiang work — ^for wages of course; and to 
take m.easares to have them, instmcted in the Christian faith. 
while at the same rime taking p£uns to prevent any violence 
being used in bringing them to mass. Mass and massacre 
seem to have been convertible terms in Ovando's vocabidary. 
He gave to each of his followers a lot of Indians — ^from fifty 
to five hundred according to circnmstances — ^with instructions 
that iiiey were to be employed as free servants, and taught 
the holy CathoHc religion. Each owner took his squad off 
in the bush, and that was the last that was seen of the 
squads; but in a short time the owner called for a fresh 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 167 

supply. His servants had been ijsed partly for agricultural 
purposes; at first, we may suppose, to hoe the soil, after- 
ward to. manure it, the manure being supplied by their own 
corpses. Others of them had been employed in the mines ; 
but these never lasted long, and they choked up the mines 
with their bones. The owners worked too, but their only 
tools were the whip, the running noose, and various cutting 
and penetrating instruments. Sometimes the Indians would 
De assembled in groups of a hundred or more, and cut to 
pieces; sometimes bloodhounds were set upon them, and 
tore them into fragments ; sometimes they were broiled over 
fires, or agam they would be impaled on stakes, and left to 
expire at their leisure. If one of them chanced to be so un- 
grateful as to offend his master, some fifty of his fellows 
(after he himself had been disposed of) would be brought 
up and required to lay their right and then their left hands 
on the block; after the hands had been chopped off with a 
hatchet, they were allowed to go about their business. These 
misguided natives occasionally brought forth babies; but the 
Spaniards had no use for babies, and had the habit of throw- 
ing all they could lay hands on into the water to drown. 
These diversions were varied in many ways. Once in a 
while a specially religious fit would seize upon the opera- 
tors, as when, in honor of Christ and his twelve apostles 
(as they averred), .they hanged thirteen Indians in a row, 
the ropes being of such a length that each suspended figure 
was barely able to touch the ground with his toes. Dancing 
thus, with little satisfactory ground of support, their religious 
instructors animated them by prickings with their sword- 
points, taking care to give them as much time as possible to 
die in. Such was the Spanish idea of doing honor to Him 
who bade us love one another, and do to others as we would 
that they should do unto us. There is no record, however, 
that any of these obstinate Indians caused Spaniards to dance 
after this fashion. But that is not the Spaniards' fault. Let 
us conclude our selections with the tale of the gentleman who 
made himself a sort of gigantic basket of metal strips, in 



168 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

which he placed some half-dozen natives, tied so that they 
might not be tempted to spoil the game by getting out. 
Having suspended his basket, with its contents, at a proper 
height from the ground, the ingenious experimenter brought 
together a supply of firewood, and kindled a fire underneath. 
The hard green boughs burned slowly, but the heat thereof 
rose upward, and soon began to produce a gentle broiling 
effect upon the basketed natives. Hereupon they gave 
voice, and, to the intense satisfaction of him who fed the 
fire, filled the forest with their outcries. He calculated that 
they would last all night; all he had to do was to sit in 
pleEised contemplation, adding a fagot to the flames once 
in a while; dozing off ever and anon, to be brought sweetly 
back to consciousness by a louder caterwauling than usual. 
Unfortunately a Spanish oflScer happened to be sleeping near 
by, and was awakened by the noise: "In the devil's name, 
kill the beasts," he called out, "and let me have my nap 
out I ' ' The experimenter was equal to the emergency ; in- 
stead of brutally stabbing his broilers, he simply gagged 
them; the captain slept, the cooking proceeded, and the 
cook had his pleasure. Next morning the fire was out, the 
basket contained a queer-looking mass of charred and black- 
ened objects, and the peaceful snores of the captain and the 
cook mingled in the holy stillness of the tropic dawn. Such 
were the pioneers of civilization in this country ; and such 
they remained up to the time when at the request of oiu* 
government they evacuated the last remaining of their pos- 
sessions in the western hemisphere. They have not improved 
in four hundred years ; they have only grown feebler. 

Such was Hispaniola under the administration of Ovando; 
but if any one supposes that he was not a person above re- 
proach, or that, in his conduct as governor, he was actuated 
by aught save zeal for Christ and civil order, he has only to 
remember that he went back to Spain a poor man — or rich 
only in his reminiscences — and that the greater part of such 
property as he had was bequeathed to found a hospital for 
needy Spaniards. What the Spaniards may have been in 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 169 

need of, unless it were more broilers, we are not informed. 
Diego Columbus succeeded him, but could not rival his rec- 
ord. By this time native slaves had assumed the dignified 
condition of "vested rights," not to be ravished away from 
their fond proprietors. But in 1511 one Father Antonio 
Montesino, a Dominican monk, preached a couple of ser- 
mons which greatly scandahzed the resident Spaniards. In 
the first sermon he informed his congregation that they were 
living in mortal sin and had no better chance of Heaven than 
so many Moors or Turks. He was warned not to repeat such 
an outrage; but the next week he followed up his first de- 
nunciation with a second which was, if anything, yet more 
uncompromising. Slave torturers, he averred, were destined 
to boiling pitch and eternal fire and brimstone, and not a 
monk in the West Indies should grant absolution to a moth- 
er's son of them. Had the congregation been as expert in 
logic as they were ingenious in devising torments, they would 
have given Father Antonio a dose of the medicine which he 
denounced; but it does not seem to have occurred to them 
that killing him could not make them any worse off than 
they were at any rate; and they contented themselves with 
appealing to the home government. Antonio himself, how- 
ever, went to Spain to plead his side of the case; and the 
king favored him, and discussed various plans of reform; 
but nothing was done for some years. This was a case in 
which not the paper orders of a government three thousand 
miles away, but only the personal efforts of a champion on 
the ground, could be of avail. Such a champion happened 
to be present in the person of Las Casas. 

Who was Las Casas? We cannot do better than to ab- 
stract from Professor Fiske's story the facts of his career, 
and the estimate which the Professor gives of his character. 
It certainly is not lacking on the score of cordiality; but in- 
asmuch as we seldom find anything Spanish that can be 
regarded as unexceptionably charming, we gladly place it 
upon record. "Las Casas," says the historian, "was born 
in Seville in 1474. His family, one of the noblest in Spain, 



170 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

was of French origin, descended from the viscounts of Li- 
moges. Thev were already in Spain before the thirteenth 
century. . . . By birth and training Las Ca^^as was an 
aristocrat to the very tips of his fingers. His father accom- 
panied Cohimbns on the second voyage, and . . . retained 
an estate in Hispaniola : the son came out with Ovando in 
1502 and settled in that island. He was then twenty-eight 
years old. Little is known of his first occupations there, 
except that he seems to hare been more or less concerned in 
money-making, like all the other settlers. Bat about 1510 
he was ordained as a priest. He was a person of such im- 
mense ability and strength of character that in whatever 
age of the worid he had hved he would imdoubtedly have 
been one of its foremost men. As a man of business he 
had rare executive power; he was a great diplomatist and 
an eloquent preacher, a man of titanic energy, ardent but 
self -controlled, of unconquerable tenacity, warm-hearted and 
tender, calm in his judgments, shrewdly humorous, abso- 
lut-ely feariess, and absolutely true." (Really, Professor!) 
*'He made many and bitter enemies, and some of them tin- 
scrupulous enough; but I believe no one has ever accused 
him of any worse sin than extreme fervor of temperament. 
His wrath could rise to a white heat, and indeed there was 
occasion enough for it. He was also very apt to call a spade 
a spade, and to proclaim impleasant truths with pungent 
emphasis. But his justice is conspicuously displayed in his 
voluminous writings. He was one of the best historians of 
his time, and wrote a most attractive Spanish style, quaint, 
pithy, nervous— a style which goes straight to the mark and 
rings like true metal. . . . His perfect sincerity is allied 
with a judgment so sane and a charity so broad as to con- 
strain our assent. He is almost always ready to make allow- 
ances, and very rarely lets his hatred of sin bhnd him to any- 
redeeming qualities there may be in the sinner. It was he 
that said of Ovando that he was a good governor — but not 
for Indians. . . . Las Casas was by natural endowment a 
manv-sided man, who looked at human affairs from various 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 171 

points of view. Under other circumstances he need not nec- 
essarily have developed into a philanthropist, though any 
career into which he might have been drawn could not have 
failed to be honorable and noble. A.t first he seems to have 
been what one might call worldly-minded. But the most 
interesting thing about him we shall find to be his steady 
intellectual and spiritual development; from year to year 
he rose to higher and higher planes of thought and feeling. 
He was at first a slave owner like the rest, and had seen no 
harm in it. But from the first his kindly sympathetic nature 
asserted itself, and his treatment of his slaves was such that 
they loved him. He was a man of striking and easily distin- 
guishable aspect, and the Indians in general, who fled from 
the sigbt of white men, came soon to trust him as a friend. 
At the same time, however, he was a good man of business, 
disposed to make money, and, as he tells us, 'took no more 
heed than the other Spaniards to bethink himself that his 
Indians were unbelievers, and of the duty there was on his 
part to give them instruction, and to bring them to the bosom 
of the Church of Christ. ' He sympathized with much that 
was said by Montesino, but thought at first that in his un- 
qualified condemnation of the whole system of slavery that 
great preacher was going too far. The heart of Las Casas, 
however, was deeply stirred by Montesino, and he pondered 
much upon his words. . . . 'Platitudes' about universal 
rights were far enough from being self-evident in the six- 
teenth century. On the contrary, they were extremely un- 
familiar and abstruse conceptions, toward which the most 
enlightened minds could only grope by slow degrees. In 
Las Casas it is interesting to trace such a development. . . . 
"When the work of Las Casas is deeply considered, we can- 
not make him anything else but an antagonist of human 
slavery in all its forms, and the mightiest and most effective 
antagonist, withal, that has ever lived." (Oh, Professor!) 
"Subtract his glorious life from the history of the past, and 
we might still be waiting, sick with hope deferred, for a 
Wilberforce, a Garrison, and a Lincoln. ... In contem- 



17^ HISTORY OF SPA>TSH AMERICA 

jJatiug such a life as tliat of Las Casas, all words of enlocy 
s<?em weak and frirolous. The historian cau c^ly bow in 
reverent awe before a figure which is in some respects the 
most sublime and beautiful in the annals of Christianity 
since the Apostolic age. When now and then in the coarse 
of the centuries God's Providence brings such a life into 
this world, the memory of it must be cherished by man- 
kind as one of its meet precious and sacred possessions. 
For the thou^ts, the words, the deeds of such a man 
there is no death. The sphere of their induence goes on 
widening forever. They bud, they blossom, they bear fruit, 
from age to age." 

Let us now inquire what it was, as a matter of fact, that 
this really good man did accomplish. 

Las Casas had listened t<'' the sermons of Father Antonio 
Montesino, and his words had sunk into his mind, but with- 
out as yet producing an active effect upon him. In the same 
year Diego Columbus sent Telasquea, whose acquaintance 
we have already made, to conquer and settle Cuba; and to 
Cuba did Las Casas shortly repair. Things were proceeding 
in that island according to the precedents set in Hispaniola; 
Las Casas did what he could to mitigate the horrors. Velas- 
quez gave to him and another — Pedro de Renteria, also a good 
man — a village of natives, to whom it became the duty of Las 
Casas, as a priest, to preach every Sunday. Looking one day 
for a text, he came upon a verse in Ecclesiastes, "He that 
taketh away his neighbor's hving slayeth him; and he that 
defraudeth the laborer of his hire is a shedder of blood." 
This carried h\n\ further toward the root of the matter than 
he had yet reached. There must be no slavery at all; 
whether the slave was weU or ill treated made no differ- 
ence. In consequence of this new light, he gave up his 
own slaves, and De Renteria was persuaded to do the same. 
From the pulpit he preached the strange doctrine of emanci- 
pation to his congregation. The idea was variously received, 
but the general attitude was, naturally, hostile to it. Per- 
ceiving that mere words would not produce the effect he 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 173 

aimed at, Las Casas sold out his possessions and went back 
to Spain to win over the king. But Ferdinand died just 
before he reached Seville. Ximenes, a cardinal, was regent, 
and he at once espoused Las Casas's cause. He appointed 
him Protector of the Indians, with authority to impeach 
judges; it was decreed that Indians must be paid wages, 
kindly treated, and taught Christianity. But the necessity 
of getting men to work in the mines was undeniable ; and 
if the Indians would not voluntarily work, what was to be 
done? It was at this juncture that Las Casas suggested 
that the enslavement of negroes would be preferable to that 
of Indians; and thereby did he, who more than any other 
man of his age was instrumental in discrediting and abating 
slavery, give the signal for the introduction of negro slavery 
into the New World. Looking too earnestly in one direc- 
tion, he failed to see what impended in another. It is true, 
of course, as his apologists contend, that negro slaves had 
been brought to the West Indies before Las Casas made his 
remark ; and that it was not until some years after that re- 
mark that the trade assumed large proportions. But in 
truth Las Casas does not need defending; he acted as he 
thought best at the time ; later he saw clearer and improved 
his action accordingly. But the knowledge that a man of 
his force and eminence had at any time admitted that negro 
slavery was not so intolerable after all, was certain to be 
quoted by those in quest of justification for their flagrant 
sins. Confronted with the alternative that either the mines 
(and consequently the West Indies themselves) must be given 
up, or else there must be slaves to work in them. Las Casas, 
at this undeveloped period of his moral stature, allowed him- 
self to concede that negro slaves would not be inadmissible. 
That is all there was to it, and it was not anything repre- 
hensible, all things considered. The moral to be drawn 
from the incident is, that eminent men must be very care- 
ful what they say. And if it be answered that Las Casas 
was not so very eminent at that particular time, then we 
can only rejoin that he ought to have known he was going 



1T4 HISTOEY OF SPA>^SH AMEEICA 

to be eminent, and have governed his tongue in reference 
thereto — which is rather absurd. 

Meanwhile the effort to save the "West Indians continued, 
Bishop Fonseca, that impenitent old sinner, obstructing it 
in every way he could ; and Cardinal Ximenes dying at an 
inopportune juncture. But to compensate for these mis- 
fortunes, young Charles T. turned out to be a very decent 
person, and he took a fancy to Las Casas. A plan was set 
on foot to raise a company of Spaniards with a couple of 
himdred ducals each to join Las Casas in founding a colony 
on the Isthmus; they were to be distinguished from imre- 
■generate Spaniards by white uniforms with crosses on them, 
and if all went well with the colony, they were to be made 
a religious fraternity by the Pope. This organization was 
intended by Las Casas to be not only a civilizing agency for 
the Indians, but a sound J)usiness enterprise as well; it would 
convert the Indians by other means than the stake and the 
gibbet; it would pay a good revenue to the king, and it 
would serve as a pattern to all present and future Spanish 
emigrants. Three years were needed to arrange the pre- 
liminaries of this affair; a grant of land on the Pearl Coast 
had to be obtained from Charles; and it was not until 1521 
that Las Casas was ready. And then happened a crushing 
calamity. 

It seems that a certain Ojeda — son, perhaps, of an earher 
rascal of the same name — had shortly before this wanted 
slav^, and had gone to the Isthmus to get some. As a 
matter of form, it was expedient to make it appear that his 
captives were cannibals ; and he therefore took along a notary 
to question the chiefs and draw up a document to damn them 
withal. Having no paper, they stopped in at a local monas- 
tery of Dominicans and borrowed some from the monks. 
Thus armed Ojeda went forth, and, falling in with some 
Indians, forgot about his catechism, in the enthusiasm of 
the moment, entrapped the unfortunate natives by treach- 
ery, killed aU he did not want, and carried the rest to His- 
paniola. The news of this coup was circulated among the 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 175 

local tribes, and made them indignant; so the next time 
Ojeda came slave-hmiting he was himself captured and 
slain ; and perhaps eaten — one does not mnch care. Grati- 
fied by this success, the Indians now repaired to the monas- 
tery and slew the innocent monks; their reason being that 
they had seen the monks give Ojeda a paper "^charm," 
which had doubtless enabled him to deceive and outrage 
their feUow-tribesmen. Las Casas, meantime, was inno- 
cently domicihng his .moralized settlers on his grant at 
Cumana; but while he was absent in Hispaniola to attend 
to some Providential business there, down swooped the stUi 
enraged natives upon his flock of sheep, and annihilated 
the entire colony. Thus did the wicked Ojeda contrive to 
perpetrate mischief even after he was dead. 

This blow, as we have said, was" a crushing one; it 
crushed Las Casas for seven years or more. During that 
period he remained in the quiet monastery of the Domini- 
cans in Hispaniola, plunged in despondency. For hours he 
would sit motionless, perplexed at the ways of Providence. 
It was his forty days in the wilderness — a kind of experience 
not unknown to great men before and after him. How to 
reconcile what the Infinite God does, with our finite concep- 
tion of what He is ! Small natures end their wondering by 
pique and revolt; great natures end theirs by humility and 
surrender. Las Casas belonged to the latter category; and 
while his spiritual lesson was learning, he educated himself 
in the lore of the world and of the Church; studied theology 
and logic, and took the vows of the Dominican order. When, 
with his shaven scalp, he came out of his long retirement in 
1530, the Spanish- American world had altered a good deal. 
Cortes had conquered Mexico, Alvarado the Berserker had 
done as much for Guatemala, and an ancient reprobate by 
the name of Pedrarias, whom we shall know better before 
long, was just dead at the age of two and ninety, after a 
career of almost unexampled and wholly unpunished in- 
iquity, in the once happy and blameless province known 
as Nicaragua. Peru had already been sought for once or 



ifS BISIOBY OF SPAXtSH AMERICA 

twice, and a final and soceessfnl expedition was ipi set- 
ting fMlh unda' Pissoro and Almagro. Upon Hii JKiiii . 1 
scene ^^eaied lias Casass like a hero of f airy-taleJ^lRer his 
^ichanted sleep; s&etched his limbs and found them soxind; 
took a view of tbe atuatkm. and decided that the first thing 
to be done was to ge* a decree from Charles prohibiting 
slavery in the regicais for which Pizarro and his fellow f ree- 
boot^' were bcmnd. To Spain he went therefore (during his 
Kfe he crossed the Atlantic no less than fourteen times, which 
was as much as to voyage to the moon and back would be 
nowadays), got the decree, and was commissioned to carry 
it to Pern and there proclaim it. Had he done this, Peru- 
vian history might have been different : but he was detained 
in XiearagTia, and the decide proclaimed itself without him 
— and was not aiforeed. Nicaragua, after all, was almost 
as much in need of Las Casas as Peru could be. It was a 
shambles and a torture-pen. the new governor making ear- 
nest efforts to equal the matchless record of old Pedrarias. 
In 15-36 he wait to Guatemala, where was an unoccupied 
Dominican monastery, and in that he housed himself with 
three fellow monks, and all bent their energies to learning 
the local or Quiche language. Ere long they had mastered 
it, and thereby acquired a precious weapon in their Christian 
•waxtare in behalf of the heathen. North of Guatemala was 
a region called by a name which means the "'Land of War.'' 
because its inhabitants were es:ceptionally bloody-minded and 
cdven up to hum^i stews and curries. The country itself 
was difficult, being a riot of ''beetling crags, abysmal gorges, 
raging torrents, and impenetrable forests. ' * It ^vas just the 
place for the Dominicans : and its final charm w^s found in 
the fact that three Spanish expeditions had already been 
violently repulsed from the cotintry, leaving not a few 
individuals to snnmer in the native pots. 

Before starting on his crusade. Las Casas had a chat 
with Governor Alvarado or his Heutenant, and came to an 
understanding with them. No lay Spaniard was to be per- 
mitted to set foot in the Land of "War for the ensuing five 



PASSING UXDEE THE YOKE 177 

years, ^d in case Las Casas succeeded in making respect- 
able n^Bfebors out of the inhabitantB, there was never to be 
any fdl^tig-out of villages to Spanish taskmasters. These 
precautions gave the monks a chance; but even so, the ad- 
venture seemed almost desperate. But they proceeded with 
patience and sagacity. First they made friends with certain 
Indian traders who were bound for the Land of War, taught 
them a version of the Scriptures which they had translated 
into Quiche and set to music, and then sent them on to the 
cacique of the country, with knickknacks in their packs to 
tickle the savages while their souls were being awakened. 
The traders did their work well, and gave such a good ac- 
count of the tonsured white men that the cacique sent his 
brother to Guatemala to investigate them. The monks soon 
won over the brother, and the latter took one of the monks 
back with him, who was not long in converting the cacique 
himself and a number of chiefs. Las Casas soon followed, 
and in spite of the angry opposition of the native priests, 
who even went so far as to picture the appetizing dishes 
that the white men would make, the Indians finally re- 
nounced their idols and their cannibalism, and promised 
not to fight unless they were attacked. They a«cknowledged 
Charles V., paid a small tribute, and Las Casas had won his 
.victory. When he returned to Guatemala with the (»cique, 
the formidable Alvarado doffed his hat to him, as being a 
better and wiser soldier than himself. The king con finning 
the terms of the capitulation, the Land of War became the 
typical Land of Peace, and the headquarters of missionary 
enterprise in the Isthmus. The new Pope (Paul III.) issued 
orders forbidding further enslavement of Indians under pen' 
alty of anathema. These orders had some effect in stopping 
the spread of slavery; but when it came to abolishing slavery 
already existing (vested rights) they could not be success- 
fully enforced. The attempt to enforce them in Peru was 
the proximate cause of the rebellion there, which brought 
Gonzalo Pizarro to his not unmerited appearance on the 
scaffold. Compromises were adopted, and in form at least 




1"? msioKr or sPA^asH amekica 

8b.T«X gndoa^ S^ir^ pisiee to TflleuMiiget. 

b»y »nd UHurdi»- with impozahx. 

liais OiSfts iQtoni!^ to Sf«m« and stayed five ve 
miluig Tshiadbld lu^odfeal loewds; he ^2^ aiVrw.. 
o€ Claaipa.. near Gaal^Bida^ for soo^ yeais more; in l^r be 
left Amnieai for dte Isist fime> and took up h^ final i«€idenee 
«fc tile ]>fMmBk«n college tn TaUadoiid. Here he brov^t 
to «n end Ins hi^nneal labois; .and hd died peacefuUr and 
hoKl]r in Id^tSCs haxing: hvei' the mc«^ honorahle and useful 
MEe of any Spaniard thu^ £m> known to the worid. 

Afiter ihd Onqtiee^ of M«xko» tiiai €< Peru was tiie nest 
gc«a4 aeli»T»neiit of tite ^tamaids; tiie inrasion was made 
bv wi^ o£ ti>e Facifie Ocean, and the names of the four 
Piatanoe — ^Frane«seo» Qo<ixates« Pedro and HeniandO{» half 
hrodieES or coigns of one another — are inseparabhr eonneded 
witii the exeni. Their of^rakions extended over about a^ 
qpoaitsr of » oentmj. The regions betwe^i Peru and Oen- 
tzal Anariisa were subdued inctdentallj. Th»e is littie of 
inqioiiance to tell about the minor provinces of Oentral 
Amerioa at tiiis time; but scvne aQasion to tiie condition 
of tiungs there may be p^mbsib^ 

The Mav^ rac^e inhabited the peninsula of Tocatan, and 
at the period of the conquest they were divided up into Tari> 
ons tribeB» such as the Ac^ans, Tipuai^ Cocames, Itaaees, 
etc, whieh were often engaged in intertribed wars^ All 
southeastam Mexico and Oential America were more or 
kes under tiie dominion of thb great Ma^^ slock; and we 
find such sirange names among their oonetitQeufs as Taen- 
dalss. ChuianteeSy Gakchiquels» Ixils, M amee» Quiches, and 
Huastecs^ whose abode was norlih of Tera Ooa. ^taoea 
of th^oi ar? found in Hoaduras^ All were idcdateis; neTer> 
tii^e^ they se^aa to have placed s«»ue credence in tiie ei> 
is^onoe of a su(Hr»ae being whom they called Hunah-^. 
Caa^taanaahip wbs g^^terally hereditaiy; they had a syst»n 
of laws, iidiidi is complicated to our ioUas, and was enforced 



PAHSINU UNJLjKE the YOKE l?'j 

with gv^t ueverity. Thoy ^poeeeeeed a calei^dar, m<xMlf/l, 
apparf;n^, affcer tl:t?At; of tho "JTahnaa. Some of the tri>x*! 
kopt pi^lligraphic or hi/jroglyphJc rftcxjrda, paint^yi on bark, 
or Bculpturfid on HUma^ the koy to none of which hae been 
dmcovorf^l; but tho nativ^:^ themHolveB aeaerted that the 
Maya raoo waa at womo unknown pa«t time xmiUA and 
powerful, and waa governed by a single rolor who lived 
at Mayapen. They alBO decl^ire<l that they had originally 
conu3 from the north, about two thouBand year-i ago; but 
the attempt to fix dates in their history is at present hope- 
IcHH. They were ab^/ut on a par in civilization with the 
Aztecs, and may p^/HHibly have been the Biiperiors of the lat- 
ter in 8ome reHj>ects. They lived in large and populous towns 
or pueblf/B, Huoh an Coj^an, Palenque, Peten, Uxrnal, Kabah, 
Chichen-Itza, Ake. Many of their Btrongholds, e8j>ecially 
in Guatemala, were choBen and fortifie^l with great Hkill. 
Uxrnal in about seventy miles north of Merida, and the ruina 
are Hoattered over Heveral sr^aare miles; but mc^t of the great 
walls have been overthrown. They were raised on terraced 
foundations, and the mas^mry is Cyclopean, and faced with 
dreHHed stone, often with elaborate Hculpturf^, as we have 
already Been in the descriptions of Mr. Gordon, in our first 
chapter. One of the Uxmal buHdingH, known as the Casa 
de las MonjaB, surrounrls a court two hundred and fifty-eight 
feet long by two hundred and fourteen wide ; there are here 
no idols or stucco work, as at other pueblos. Chichen-Itza 
is in northern Yucatan, near Valladolid, and the ruins in- 
clude a pyramid five hundred and fifty f^t on a side ; the 
original height can only be conjectured, but it still ascends 
seventy feet. Here Mr. Le Plongeon discovered a remark- 
able statue which he called Chacmool, identifying it with an 
ancient chief of the Mayas, though it appears to be of the 
Mexican rather than the Yucetec type. There is a notable 
pyramid at Ake, thirty miles east of Merida. The latter 
town, founded on the ruins of an ancient Maya pueblo in 
1642, is the present capital of Yucatan. 

Topographically, Mexico is a table land traversed by 



180 HISTOEY OF 5PAXLSH A^IEEICA 

Ingh monntaiiis. Gnatemala shows a diversified mov^- 
tamons soifaoe d. a peu-tictilarlT nigged character. Hon- 
dnras (the name Tiieans Deep-Bot^m) has high monntain 
chains to the west with high open valleys and plateaus ; on 
the nortii coast are great forest-grown alluvions : the valleys 
are very fertile, and the high plains afford good grazing for 
cattle. Bat the lands along the coasts are hot and unhealthy. 
The chief feature of Nicaragua is the great depression which 
traverses it from southeast to northwest, including the river 
San Juan and the lakes Nicaragua and Managua, which 
ooiisiitiate the ronte of the proposed canal. Most of the east 
coast is low; there are numerous volcanoes, and frequent 
and violent earthquakes. All these regions produce gold, 
gflver, copper and lead, and among the plants cultivated are 
sugar, maize, tobacco, hemp, coffee, rubber, fruits, and cab- 
inet woods; cattle are raised, and hides are exported. But 
owing to political complications, the wealth of these coun- 
tries has never been developed, and none can tell of what 
they are capable. Under a steadfast and truly economic 
administration they would probably astonish the world. 

Passing southward from Central America, we find traces 
of a culture in some degrees more advanced than that of 
other parts of the New "World. At Chiriqui, between Costa 
Bica and Veragua, in the narrow part of the Isthmus, are 
artistic remains similar to those further north. The people 
to whom they are assigned were the Chibchas, whose central 
habitat was near the present Bogota, among the Colombian 
mountains. The Chibchas were of many tribes, and spoke 
many dialects of a single stock language. They had no 
means of recording events, and their only way of writing 
was by rough pictographs. Kinship was through the female 
Hne, and the family idea was consequently undeveloped; 
they had human sacrifices, but seem to have advanced be- 
yond cannibalism. Their burial customs mark a difference 
from the northern peoples; they embalmed the bodies of 
their chiefs and wrapped them in cloths, after the fashion 
of Egyptian mummies. Their houses were large, and of 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE ISl 

pyramidal or conical shape, with the apex left off. They 
were made of adobe clay applied to timber-work. Cotton 
cloth was m.anuf actm-ed ; their vehicles were wooden htters; 
their bridges were made of ropes, but there were no regular 
roads, as in Peru. There were periodical fairs in all the 
towns, where goods were sold by measure only, and a cur- 
rency existed consisting of round tiles of unstamped gold, 
or of salt, if the gold should run short. The culture of the 
Chibchas was of a piece with that which prevailed all over 
the region of the Andes for unniunbered centimes before the 
rise of the Incas. It was sustained on the eastern slopes of 
the great mountain range against the incursions and attacks 
of a multitudinous savage population, concerning whose 
ethnology very Hrtle is known ; these savages remain to-day 
much in the same condition as when first seen by the Sx^an- 
iards. They have been provisionally classified in four groups : 
the Caribs, occupying Venezuela, Guiana, and some of the 
"West Indian islands, and the Maypiu^s, from the sources 
of the Orinoco into Bolivia, constitute the Orinoco group: 
the Amazonians dwell along the Amazon River and its 
affluents ; the Tupi-Guaraui group extends from the Amazon 
to La Plata; and the fourth group is foimd south of these, 
and comprises very divei-se tribes. Over against these sav- 
ages are the Quichua-Aymara tribes, known to us as Pe- 
ruvians, who lived on the Pacific slope from the present 
Colombia to Patagonia. They are of a higher type, iind 
enlightenment superior to any other American races, north 
or south ; and where they came from, if they are immigrants, 
or how they attained so admirable a cultitre, if they are in- 
digenous}- we do not know. The only historical mysteries 
which have thus far not only been unsolved, but which seem 
insoluble, are those attaching to the races of this western 
continent; which seemed at fii*st a virgin country. 

"What is one to do ^^'ith no historical records to study 
over? The Aztecs did have some sort of writing ; and though 
we have not yet learned how to read it, we may solace our- 
selves with the hope that enlightenment may some time come. 



183 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

But the people of tlie Andes did not even use hieivglyphics ; 
tlieir sole documents wei"e knotted strings. These strings, 
which they called qiiipiis, were of course merely aids to 
memory, in the same way that a knot in a handkerchief 
enables a husband to remember the instructions which his 
wife gave him when he set out for the city — which could 
not be written down in many pages. The memory of mod- 
ern civilized people seems to be greatly inferior to that of 
more primitive races; and no doubt the ancient Peruvians 
were highly cultivated in this respect, and needed but a hint 
to recollect whole Hbraiies of information. But this fact 
does not help our contemporary historians and archeologists, 
because, though the quipus may remain, the people to inter- 
pret them are no more, and the tradition of their knowledge 
is lost. There are, however, some stray traditions and remi- 
niscences on the subject, which have been collected by Mr. 
Tylor in his "Researches into the Early History of Man- 
kind." **It is so simple a device," he observes, "that it 
may have been invented again and again. It has been 
found in Asia, in Africa, in Mexico, among the North 
American Indians; but its greatest development was in 
South America.'* 

The Peruvian quipu "consists of a thick main cord, with 
thinner cords tied on it at certain distances, in which the 
knots are tied. The cords ai-e often of various colors, each 
with its own proper meaning; red for soldiers, yellow for 
gold, white for silver, green for com, and so on. This knot- 
writing was especially suited for reckonings and statistical 
tables; a single knot meant ten, a double one a hundred, 
a triple one a thousand, two singles side by side twenty, two 
doubles two hundi-ed. The distances of the knots from the 
main cord were of great importance, as was the sequence 
of the branches, for the principal objects were placed on the 
first branches and near the trunk, and so in decreasing order. 
This art of reckoning is still in use among the herdsmen of 
the Pima (the high mountain plateau of Peru). On the first 
branch the}' usually register the bulls, ou the second the 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 183 

COWS, these again they divide into milch cows and those that 
are dry; the next branches contain the calves, according to 
age and sex, then the sheep in several subdivisions, the num- 
ber of foxes killed, the quantity of salt used, and lastly, the 
particulars of the cattle that have died. On other qui pus is 
set down the produce of the herd in milk, cheese, wool, etc. 
Each heading is indicated by a special color or a differently 
twined knot. It was in the same way that in old times the 
army registers were kept ; on one cord the slingers were set 
down, on another the spearmen, on a third those with clubs, 
etc., with their officers; and thus also the accounts of battles 
were drawn up. In each town were special functionaries 
whose duty it was to tie and inspect the quipus ; they were 
called quipucamayocuna, or 'knot-officers.' They were sel- 
dom able to read a quipu without the aid of an oral com- 
mentary; when one came from a distant province, it was 
necessary to give notice whether it referred to census, trib- 
ute, war, etc. They carefully kept the quipus in their proper 
departments, so as not, for instance, to mistake a tribute cord 
for one relating to a census. In modem times all the at- 
tempts to read the ancient quipus have been in vain. The 
difficulty in deciphering them is very great, since every knot 
indicates an idea, and a number of intermediate notions is 
left out. But the principal impediment is the want of oral 
information as to their subject-matter, which was needful 
even to the most learned decipherers. Quipus are found in 
the Eastern Archipelago and in Polynesia proper, and they 
were in use in Hawaii forty years ago, in a form seemingly 
not inferior to the most elaborate Peruvian examples. The 
fate of the quipus has been everywhere to be superseded, 
more or less entirely, by the art of writing." — Enough con- 
cerning these literary cats-o'-nine-tails; it is evident that 
a British Museum Library full of them would not advance 
us an inch in our investigation of the obscure past of the 
Peruvians. 

Nevertheless we have traditions in plenty on such points, 
of which we can believe what we please. Starting with the 



184 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMEEICA 

reasonable assumption tiiat there mnst have been a very 
considerable past before the Spaniards appeared, we may 
construct various more or less plausible surmises based on 
the Cyclopean architectural ruins which are distributed about 
the country. Marvellous works they are, though their form, 
and the carvings with which they are decorated, are less 
impressive than their mere size and weight. The labor of 
moving such masses must have been enormous, while on the 
other hand the mechanical means at the disposal of the an- 
cient builders are not known to have been other than primi- 
tive. The most striking of them are found at a place called 
Tiahuanucu, near Lake Titicaca; and there have not been 
wanting students who declare that such structures were 
probably erected by builders from the Old "World. But there 
is little or no resemblance between them and the remains of 
Egyptian or Hindu architecture; these are big enough, but 
they are rude and barbarous in design ; one sees huge mono- 
liths cut into the rude semblance of human figures, or de- 
moniac shapes, sometimes thirty or more feet in height; 
sometimes hardly distinguishable from native rocks, whose 
accidental similitude to the forms of men may have prompted 
the old carvers to increase it by chipping and cutting. The 
Peruvians of Pizarro's time sometimes asserted that these 
figures were those of men who had been turned into stone 
by the gods for some sin of commission or omission which 
they were supposed to have perpetrated. But it has been 
very generally thought that they were the handiwork of the 
prehistoric Piruas. 

Since the Piruas were prehistoric, it is not to be expected 
that much historic information concerning them is obtain- 
able. They are even more ambiguous than the Toltecs of 
Mexico, concerning whom we have heard Professor Fiske 
express such emphatic doubts. According to Markham, 
however, who is of a more credulous disposition, we learn 
that "the Piruas governed a vast empire, erected imperish- 
able Cyclopean edifices, and developed a complicated civiliza- 
tion, which is dimly indicated to us by the numerous sym- 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 185 

bolical sculptures on the monolith at Tiahuanucu. They 
also, in a long course of years, brought wild plants under 
cultivation, and domesticated the animals of the lofty An- 
dean plateau. But it is remarkable," continues the his- 
torian, "that the shores of Lake Titicaca, which are almost 
treeless, and where corn will not ripen, should have been 
chosen as the centre of this most ancient civilization. Yet 
the ruins of Tiahuanucu conclusively establish the fact that 
the capital of the Piruas was on the loftiest site ever selected 
for the seat of a great empire." More conservative com- 
mentators speak of the Piruas as the traditional name of a 
very ancient people, the Hatun Runas, who occupied the 
highlands of Peru and Bolivia previous to the rise of the Inca 
dynasty. "That such a people existed is evident from the 
remains of Cyclopean architecture of a type different from 
and older than the Inca edifices. Tiahuanucu, which is 
twelve miles from the southern end of Lake Titicaca, in 
western Bolivia, near the border of Peru, and about twelve 
thousand nine hundred feet above the sea, includes remains 
of several very large quadrilateral biiildings, monoHthic door- 
ways, broken statues, etc. The material is generally hard 
sandstone or trachyte, often in immense blocks, and it must 
have been transported twenty-five miles by water and fifteen 
by land. The blocks were cut and fitted together with great 
skill, the joining being by mortices and bolts. Many of them 
are elaborately sculptured. The largest and most remark- 
able of the monolithic doorways is thirteen feet wide, with 
a present height above the ground of over seven feet, and 
nearly three feet thick ; above the level of the door it is cov- 
ered with sculptures in low relief, consisting of a central 
human figure and four rows of smaller figures, some with 
condor's heads, and all with crowns and sceptres. The 
structure called the fortress is an artificial mound or trun- 
cated pyramid, six hundred and twenty feet long, by four 
hundred and fifty wide and fifty feet high, originally formed 
with terraces which were faced with blocks of cut stone. 
The style of architecture and sculpture are absolutely unique. 



186 HISTORY OF SPAMSH AMERICA 

and the exactness of the squaring and joining are nnsur- 
passed even by the most noted ancient and modem works 
of the Old "World. The rains had been abandoned long 
before the Spaniards came, and the Indians knew nothing 
of their origin. As the cold and sterile region round the 
lake is unfitted to support a large population, it is conject- 
ured that the buildings had a religious or ceremonial object.'* 
Almost or quite as remarkable are the ruins of Sacsa- 
huana, which are by some ascribed to the Piruas, though 
others contend that they may have been built by the Incas 
as late as the fifteenth century. The building overlooks the 
present town of Cuzco in Peru. The hill on which it stands 
is a terrace of higher mountains, and is so steep as to be 
practicaUy unassailable on the side toward the city, which 
is but slightly defended. The principal works of the forti- 
fication (for such it seems to be) face the other way, enclos- 
ing a projecting portion of the terrace. They consist of three 
walls, each eighteen hundred feet long, rising one behind 
another and supporting artificial terraces, which were de- 
fended by parapets. The walls are built with salient and 
re-entering angles, thus embodying a principle of modem 
fortification. They are formed of immense irregular lime- 
stone blocks, fitted together with great skill and accuracy; 
some of these were evidently taken from the quarry three- 
quarters of a mQe distant. There are also subsidiary struct- 
ures; and the place was artificially supplied with water. 
Most modem archeologists now assign these vast rains to 
the pre-Incarial period; but others, such as Squier, Garci- 
lasso, and our own Fiske, urge us to regard them as much 
more recent work. All parties are at one as to the astonish- 
ing character of the edifice. ' ' The heaviest work of the for- 
tress,'' says Squier, "remains substantially perfect, and will 
remain so as long as the Pyramid shaU last, or Stonehenge 
and the Coliseum endure. The work is without doubt the 
grandest specimen of the style called Cyclopean extant in 
America. The outer wall is the heaviest. Each salient 
terminates in an immense block of stone, sometimes as high 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 187 

as the terrace which it supports, but generally sustaining one 
or more great stones only less in size than itself. One of ■ 
these stones is twenty-seven feet high, fourteen broad, and 
twelve in thickness. Stones of fifteen feet in length, twelve 
in width, and ten in thickness are common in the outer 
walls." Verily, the builders of our modem "sky-scrapers" 
may hide their diminished heads before exploits such as this ! 
It might almost seem as if the faith that moves mountains 
had been operating here. 

As we might anticipate. Professor Fiske is among the 
doubters, and will have it that the mighty fortress was biiilt 
by the Incas "in order to show that they could equal or sur- 
pass the mighty works of bygone ages" — ^assuredly the most 
singular reason for undertaking so stupendous an enterprise 
that ever was put forward. "There is no occasion," he goes 
on, "to suppose any serious break in the continuity of events 
in prehistoric Peru. It is not necessary to suppose that the 
semi-civilization of the Incas was preceded by some other 
semi-civiHzation distinct from it in character. As for the 
Pirua dynasty of sixty-five kin^, covering a period of thir- 
teen centuries, it does not seem likely that the 'wise men' of 
Cieza's time, with their knotted strings, could have preserved 
any trustworthy testimony as to it." He is fain to admit, 
however, that a long time must have elapsed to enable the 
ancient people occupying this region to attain the command 
over nature which they possessed; and whether we name 
that people Piruas or incipient subjects of the Incas does 
not appear vital ; we are reminded of the man who did not 
believe that certain plays were written by Shakespeare, but 
"by some other man of the same name." It is indisputable 
that in Peru the grade of culture found in Mexico at the time 
of the Conquest must have been reached and passed many 
ages earlier. In proof of this we have the fact that the 
Peruvians alone had succeeded in domesticating animals; 
only the dog had been adapted to man's service in other 
parts of America. The domestic llama, for instance, was 
derived from the wild huanacu; and the alpaca from the 

— 9 



ISS HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

vicuna. Many centuries would be required in order to bring 
about these results. Several varieties of maize were also 
produced under cultivation; and the Peruvian species of 
cotton plant is known to exist only as it appears under cul- 
tivation. Wild tubers are found in Peru, from which the 
potato was educed. Now it has been proved by experiment 
that wild potatoes require a very long time to put on a civil- 
ized complexion. It was in Peru that the potato as we know 
it was first discovered. It was not cultivated north of Darien; 
Raleigh brought the first specimens to Ireland in 1586; but 
it was not until the end of the eighteenth century that they 
came into general use in Europe. The Peruvians practiced 
irrigation, and manured their crops with guano. Thus in 
one way and another they had reached what Mr. Morgan 
would call the upper state of barbarism hundreds of yeai-s 
before the Aztecs did so; and during those centuries they 
naturally made great strides toward a higher level of cult- 
ure. If they had only invented something better than 
quipus for keeping their records, they would no doubt have 
been actually ci^'ihzed according to Morgan standards. They 
might in that case have been led to discover the uses of iron, 
which was present in the ground in unlimited quantities; 
bronze instruments they did possess, but no blacksmith's 
appliances. Again, the absence of any other cattle than 
the llamas and alpacas kept the Peruvians in the rear of 
progress; there were no wild animals in South America out 
of which horses and cows could be developed; nor did the 
wild slopes of the Andes afford fitting opportunity for a 
pastoral life. Agriculturists the Peruvians could be, and 
were; but the patriarchal form of existence was unknown 
CO them. They were a nation, but the manner in which 
they came to be a nation differed from the manner in which 
nationality was attained in the Old World. 

The materials for this nation were provided by the four 
tribes — Quichuas, Incas, Canas and Cauchis — scattered over 
the northwest of South America. They were all mountain- 
eers, short but active and strong, with soft brown skins, 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 189 

black hair, and arched noses. At first the tribes were com- 
posed of clans; but the Incas settled in the lofty valley of 
Cuzco, and from that coign of vantage gradually subdued 
the other tribes. Unlike the Aztecs, they confirmed their 
conquests not by exacting tributes, but by military occupa- 
tion of the subject territory. The town of Cuzco was built 
about the end of the thirteenth century, and the work of in- 
ternal organization was begun. It is at this point that solid 
historical information first comes to hand. A succession of 
head chiefs or kings had already been instituted, and these 
monarchs were called Incas par excellence — the Inca of all 
other minor Incas. To this general name, nicknames were 
added, by way of distinguishing them. Finally, the eighth 
in the line was called Viracocha, which means sun-god, and 
indicated that by that epoch the Incas had acquired some- 
thing of the divinity which doth hedge a king. Viracocha 
annexed the land of the Aymaras, who are suspected of de- 
scent from the builders of Tiahuanucu. In the next reiga 
the strong tribe of the Chancas, living close to the equator, 
resisted the march of conquest, but were finally defeated un- 
der the walls of Cuzco, and their country was afterward 
annexed. The Chimus, who gave its name to Chimborazo, 
were the next victims of the Incas, who now ruled the region 
from Lake Titicaca to the equator, and from the Andes to 
the sea. It was under the Inca Yupanqui that this conquest 
took place, and he is regarded as the great hero of Peruvian 
history. To him was applied the surname Pachacutec— 
Changer of the World. 

The successor of this champion extended the dominion of 
kis people so much further that it became necessary to found 
the city of Quito to keep watch over the southern portion of 
the empire. He brought in the valley of Pachacamac, where 
there was an ancient and desirable temple; and also pene- 
trated far into Chili. His son and successor, Huayna Capac, 
defeated a rebellion of some tribes near Quito, and it was plain 
that the empire was of such length that while it was being 
kept in order at one end it was liable to break loose at the 



190 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

other. Huayna Capac died in 1523 ; his son Huascar became 
involved in civil war with his bastard brother Atahualpa, and 
this war was in progress at the time of Pizarro's invasion. 
Peru was then twenty-seven hundred miles in length and 
about three hundred wide. And this enormous area of eight 
hundred thousand square miles was not merely conquered 
but occupied and assimilated, and governed from an admin- 
istrative centre. The Inca language was spoken through- 
out the empire, though of course the several languages of 
the component tribes were not obliterated. Cannibalism was 
abolished or discouraged ; garrisons were distributed through- 
out the empire at strategic points, and were connected by the 
famous roads which have been the wonder and admiration 
of the world. They started from Cuzco as a centre and di- 
verged to all parts of the country. Their average width was 
about twenty-five feet, and they were almost as level as rail- 
roads, which is saying a great deal when one remembers the 
rugged and rocky topography of the Incas's dominions. There 
was a central highway from Quito to Cuzco and thence south- 
ward which is thus described by the historian Cieza: "I be- 
lieve that since the history of man has been recorded, there 
has been no account of such grandeur as is to be seen in this 
road, which passes over deep valleys and lofty mountains, by 
snowy heights, over falls of water, through live rocks, and 
along the edges of furious torrents. In all these places it is 
level and paved, along mountain slopes well excavated, by 
the mountains well terraced, through the living rock cut, 
along the river bank supported by walls, in the snowy heights 
with steps and resting-places, in all parts clean-swept, clear 
of stones, with post and store houses and temples of the Sun 
at intervals. Oh ! what greater things can be said of Alex- 
ander or of any of the powerful kings that have ruled in the 
world, than that they had made such a road as this and con- 
ceived the works that were required for it ! The roads con- 
structed by the Romans in Spain are not to be compared with 
it. " The post-houses were some four or five miles apart, and 
in each were two Indians, who carried messages to and from 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 191 

the next house in line, whereby the government was kept 
constantly informed of what was going on in all parts of its 
dominions. In this way messages could travel at the rate 
of nearly a hundred and fifty miles a day. The only weak 
point about the Inca roads was the crossing of streams or 
abysses. They did not know the secret of the arch, and 
were not skilled enough joiners to make bridges of wood. 
Transverse planks were laid upon osier ropes thrown across 
the chasm, and the passenger was steadied on his precaj-i- 
ous transit by a rope railing. It is a pity ; an Inca bridge 
of Cyclopean masonry, spanning some enormous ravine of 
the Andes, would have been a fine spectacle for future 
generations ! 

Meanwhile, those future generations, now the present 
ones, have constructed bridges and roads — railroads — of 
their own; and there is a description of one by Theodore 
Child which is worth reproducing. "Our descent from 
Chicla to Lima" (Chicla is over twelve thousand feet 
above sea level) "was accomplished hj means of two 
hand-cars coupled together and each provided with a 
brake; they are run by gravitation alone all the way 
to Lima, interrupted only by the gap due to the destruc- 
tion of the Verrugas viaduct. At certain moments the 
speed was alarming, and had the brakes given way we 
should have been inevitably launched into eternity down 
one of the many precipices which we skirted. As we passed 
through one long, dark tunnel the men on the first seat of 
the forward car received on their laps a young jackass that 
had strayed on the track. So we sped along, admiring the 
scenery, and noting the rare incidents of the landscape — a 
waterfall, a bridge, an artificial tunnel cut through the rock 
so as to divert the Rimac torrent from its old bed in which 
the rails are now laid; a tunnel high up above our heads 
through which we came a few moments ago ; a condor soar- 
ing across the sky ; a train of pack-mules and donkeys wind- 
ing along at the bottom of a ravine a thousand feet below 
us, under charge of Indians ; a Cholita standing to watch us 



193 HISTORT OF SPANISH AMERICA 

shoot past, her long black hair bedecked with large passion- 
flowers ; the green mountain-sides terraced to an incredible 
height by the old Incas ; here, an Inca acqueia running sinu- 
ously along a steep slope hundreds of feet above the torrent; 
there, a brown mass of Inca ruins. And so we reach the 
lower valley, and enter Lima just as the late afternoon sun 
is gliding the stucco towers and casting long purple shadows 
over the Cerro of San Cristobel. 

"The Oroya road," he continues, "is a remarkable piece 
of engineering work, executed perhaps not wisely but too 
well. The difficulties surmounted are enormous. The con- 
structor, an American, Henry Meiggs, used to say at certain 
arduous points, 'The line has to go there, and if we caja't find 
a road for it, we'll hang the track from balloons. ' This illus- 
trates how boldly and almost recklessly' the line has been 
built ; and even now, fine as the work is, it is in constant 
danger of destruction in many parts. Every year sections 
of the line, bridges, and viaducts are swept away by floods 
and landsUps which cannot be foreseen. A waterspout bursts 
on a mountain peak, an immense volume of mud, water and 
bowlders dashes do^vn, and half an hour later all is calm 
again ; but the railway track has disappeared, or one of the 
bridges will be foiuid twisted into a knot half a mile away. 
from its proper place. The working of the hue is also very 
expensive on account of the high price of coal and the quan- 
tity wasted by the continuous firing required to force the 
train up the steep gradients. — The number of bridges is six- 
teen, the longest • being the 174-metre viaduct of Verrugas, 
now destroyed. The Oroya line, on which the Peruvian 
loan of £5,520,000 sterling was spent, was not finished for 
want of funds, and the completed portion has never paid. 
The original idea was to carry the line to Oroya in the 
transandine province of Junin, and the sm^vey and much 
of the work was done before the money gave out in 1873. 
The summit tunnel through the Paso de Galera, about twelve 
hundred metres long, is open, and from the plains it seems 
to be an interesting piece of work, being on a vertical curve 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 193 

with slight gradients. It is 15,700 feet above the level of 
the sea." 

If Mr. Henry Meiggs, with all the resources of the nine- 
teenth century at his back, met with such difficulties, we may 
estimate what the ancient Incas had to overcome seven or eight 
hundred years before, without iron or coal or any horse-power 
to help them. And it does not appear that the roads they 
built were at the mercy of landslips, floods or waterspouts. 

In order to preserve order among their subjects, the Incas 
had the habit — like the English in the case of the Acadrans, 
and the old Asiatic monarchs of Nineveh and Babylon — of 
transferring populations from their original habitat to some 
distant place. Such was the fate that befell the inhabitants 
of Lake Titicaca; Quito was peopled from the region near 
Cuzco, and the same practice was observed in Chili. All 
this tended to break down the primitive tribal institutions. 
There was no conception of representative government, but 
only a military despotism, exercised by a royal family which 
belonged to a ruling caste. It is stated by a native historian 
that the "Incas were free from such temptations as passion 
for women, envy, and covetousness, because if they desired 
beautiful women it was lawful for them to have as many 
as they liked. The same thing might be said of their prop- 
erty ; for as they never could feel the want of anything, they 
had no reason to covet the goods of others ; while as gover- 
nors they had command over all the property of the Sun and 
of the Inca. They likewise had no temptation to kill either 
for revenge or passion, for no one ever offended them. On 
the contrary, they received adoration, and if any one, no 
matter how high, had enraged an Inca, it would have been 
looked upon as sacrilege and severely punished." These 
remarks, it will be observed, apply not to the Inca sover- 
eigns, but to the whole Inca tribe; and one can only envy 
their Paradisiacal state. The earth was theirs and the full- 
ness thereof, and consequently they were sinless. "The King 
can do no wrong" was a dogma which the Peruvians accepted 
au pied de la lettre. 



194 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

The king had powers which for ordinary purposes were 
absolute; he was chief in war, and head priest, and the keys 
of heaven and earth were in his hands. Yet there was a 
council, which he might consult upon occasion, a,nd which 
seems sometimes to have deposed unsuitable monarchs. The 
religion of the country was a combination of Sun and An- 
cestor worship, with a sort of monotheism in the background ; 
they perceived that' things must have been made by some 
superior being, and they called him Pachacamac; but they 
did not attempt to Uft their minds to supernatural concep- 
tions. There was a single oracular temple of Pachacamac, 
near the site of the present Lima, very old, and built of 
adobe brick. Pilgrims came thither, as do the Mohamme- 
dans to Mecca. But the general popular worship was Sun 
worship, with incidental courtesies paid to the moon, the 
chief planets, and the Pleiades. There were four great fes- 
tivals, with sacrifices of llamas and other animals and of 
vegetables, with beer and fine cloths. No human sacrifices 
were tolerated by the Incas. The hierarchy which officiated 
at these ceremonies presented several similitudes to those in 
the Old World, as did the mortuary practices. At each 
autumnal equinox a new fire was kindled by collecting the 
sua's rays on a burnished mirror, and this fire was kept alive 
throughout the year by consecrated maidens, who lived in 
convents. If one of these maidens broke her vow she was 
buried aUve. There were about fifteen hundred of these 
vestals; and as they were vowed to the Sun, and as the 
Inca was the earthly representative of that divine luminary, 
it followed that these vestals were concubines of the mon- 
arch. Every reigning Inca had several hundred recognized 
children, and how many others no man can tell. 

In spite of this, the Inca could have but one wife, and she 
must be his fuU sister. The eldest son of this incestuous mar- 
riage was the heir-apparent to the throne. If there were no 
children by a first sister-wife, the Inca married the next sister, 
and so on until the required heir was born : his other hundreds 
of offspring were legitimate, but could not ascend the throne. 



PASSING UNDER THE YOKE 195 

As regards the ownership of land in Peru, the inhabitants 
of a village, as a community, owned the land adjoining their 
settlement; and it was divided up into small parcels of the 
same size, each of which could support a man and his wife; 
and for each child born to the pair, another tupu was added. 
At intervals there was a general redistribution. The prod- 
uce of the land was divided in three parts, one for the Inca, 
one for the priesthood, and one for the cultivator. If a vil- 
lage had been impoverished by war, it was helped out by 
assessing its neighbors. . There was little division of labor, 
but each man could turn himself to any employment; thus 
was military organization applied to industrial purposes. 
The state was based on the principle of communistic despot- 
ism. The members of the Inca tribe, and the priests, were 
non-producers, and lived in luxury and innocence, without 
labor. 

Gold in abundance was found in the river sands, but it 
was not used as currency, but only as ornaments for the Inca 
and for decorative purposes. All trade was barter. Weapons 
of war and agriculture were of bronze. Pottery was pro- 
duced in great quantities, but was not superior to that of 
Mexico. Upon the whole, the Peruvian empire was far 
in advance in most practical respects to the Aztecs, but was 
rendered somewhat rigid and spiritless by the despotic form 
of the government. The social customs were comparatively 
gentle and humane. Their literature is necessarily not ex- 
tensive, at least in accessible form, for knots in strings are 
an untoward vehicle of poetry and romance ; but some poems 
and plays of Incarial times are extant, having been taken 
down from oral tradition. It seems strange to us that a 
people so intellectual as the Incas must have been, could 
have got along without literature in the shape of books ; but 
ehey do not seem to have noted the deficiency themselves, 
and we can but conclude that there are more ways than one 
of keeping the soul alive. 



196 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



III 

PIZARRO 

SUCH were the inliabitants of Peru at the time Pizarro 
made his first attempt to explore their country, con- 
cerning the wealth of which interesting reports had 
long been coming to Spanish ears. "We are now ready to 
examine the circumstances under which this attempt was 
made. If the number of the invaders seems ridiculously 
inadequate, we must remember that in spite of the power 
and wealth of the Incas, and their success in subjecting 
tribes inferior to themselves, they yet were wholly incom- 
petent to resist men disciplined and armed as were the Span- 
iards. They had already begun to be softened by luxury 
and the long exercise of powers almost undisputed; and had 
the Spaniards not attacked them, it is probable that they 
might ere long have fallen victims to the various savage 
tribes of the lowlands, or to the invincible Araucanians, who 
dwelt on the southern confines of the empire, and had not 
only never been conquered by the Incas, but who resisted 
the utmost efforts of the Spaniards themselves during hun- 
dreds of years, and are unconquered even to this day — 
though, to be sure, it might prove a difficult task to discover 
the tribe in their ancient domain. The invaders were also 
helped by the fact that the despotic form of the Inca govern- 
ment had slowly robbed the people of all spirit and initiative ; 
their minds were not in a condition to grasp new ideas or 
meet novel emergencies; and inasmuch as the Spaniards 
were altogether novel to them, and mysterious and fearful, 
and capital fighters into the bargain — it is no marvel that 
the conquest was no harder than it was. In fact, one need 
hardly have been surprised had it been easier. 

The first movements leading up to the invasion took place 



PIZARRO 197 

soon after the entrance upon the viceroyalty of Diego Colum- 
bus. Two men, Ojeda (the first of that name) and Nicuesa, 
were appointed by the Spanish crown to the governorships 
of the regions between the gulfs of Darien and Maracaibo, 
for the former; and of the Veragua and Honduras coasts 
for the latter, Diego Columbus regarded these appointments 
as trenching upon his preserves, and the consequence was 
that he and these rivals of his were by no means in harmony 
with one another. Ojeda and Nicuesa also quarrelled be- 
tween themselves as to the boundaries of their domains ; ' and 
their attempt to secure Jamaica as their base of supplies was 
defeated by Columbus. They set out, however, Ojeda getting 
off first; he met with disaster immediately, and his life was 
narrowly saved by Nicuesa. Ojeda went back to Hispaniola 
for supplies, but never returned. All this was about 1509. 

An expedition under Enciso was sent out meanwhile, 
accompanied by Nunez de Balboa as a stowaway ; but this 
irregularity on his part was compensated by the fact that 
he was the only man on board who had visited the Isthmus', 
before. At his suggestion, they landed on the west shore; 
of the Gulf of Uraba, and began the building of a town; and' 
question arose as to whether Enciso, Balboa, or Nicuesa (in 
whose province they were) should be their leader. Nicuesa, 
however, was speedily put out of consideration by death; 
he had met with every sort of misfortune, and out of seven 
hundred men in his party only seventy remained alive. 
Enciso was unpopular, and Balboa the stowaway was elected 
*ihief. He promptly made the mistake of antagonizing En- 
ciso, who thereupoQ sailed for Spain with revenge in his 
heart and complaints on his lips. When these Spaniards 
were not murdering natives they were trying to destroy 
one another. 

Balboa made an alliance with the local chief, and mar- 
ried his daughter; nothing had at this time (1512) been sus- 
pected of the existence of Mexico, but evidences of superior 
culture were already forthcoming. The chief presented the 
strangers with various things, among others with a quantity 



i98 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

of gold, which was not valued by the natives except for 
ornamental purposes. Perceiving the sacra fames in the 
Spanish faces at the sight of this treasure, the chief remarked 
that if they really cared for the stuff, they had better go 
west and south, where dwelt a nation that used gold for 
pottery and building material. This was the first hint of 
Peru, and the death warrant of that country was signed 
on that day, though some years were to elapse before her 
head was struck off. It was also revealed by this too loqua- 
cious chief that the kingdom of the Incas was bordered by 
a mighty ocean. Balboa despatched the news, together 
with the king's fifth of the gold, to Spain; but the ship 
was wrecked in the Caribbean, and this anchor-to-windward 
therefore failed to connect. The treasure still lies at the 
bottom of the sea, for lucky fishermen to haul up. Balboa 
now received from Hispaniola his commission as governor 
of Darien; but his pleasure in this advancement was dashed 
by the news that legal proceedings were taken against him 
in Spain, at Enciso's instance. He must confirrii his position 
by some striking achievement. With a squad of two hun- 
dred men he started westward in 1513, and climbing the 
sierra, he and his men saw the vast of the Pacific spread 
mistily in unknown distances at their feet. Four days later 
— on September Ji9th — he reached the shore and put out on 
the ocean in a boat, by way of annexing it to Spain. The 
natives on the coast confirmed the report that there was 
a land of gold further south. Returning now to Darien he 
found that the news of wealth which had reached Spain had 
had an enormous effect. No less than fifteen hundred men 
were headed for the promised land, provided with a governor 
in the shape of Pedrarias Davila, seventy years old, but des- 
tined during the remaining twenty years of his career to 
accomplish the death (according to the Spanish chronicler 
Oviedo) of some two million persons. He was a favorite of 
Fonseca, as might be expected. 

Oviedo was inspector-general of the new colony, Espinosa 
was chief judge, and Balboa's enemy Enciso was chief con- 



PIZARRO 191J 

stable; and the first person he arrested was naturally Balboa 
himself. He was released, however, and for two years kept 
out of jail. But Pedrarias was his enemy; the latter's In- 
dian policy was murder and robbery, which Balboa was too 
humane aiid sagacious to support. Finally, by a sort of 
compromise, Balboa was commissioned to make a voyage 
down the Pacific coast and find out about that golden king- 
dom. He took four ships to pieces on the Atlantic coast, 
carried them across the Isthmus, and rebuilt and launched^ 
them on the other side; and only needed a little pitch and 
iron to set sail. Meantime the rumor went that Pedrarias 
was to be supplanted by one Lope de Sosa. Now Balboa 
had reason to wish Pedrarias out of the way, but was not 
sure that Sosa might not countermand the expedition ; so he 
arranged to send a trusty messenger back to see just how the 
land lay. Some conversation relative to this point was over- 
heard by a sentry, and by him interpreted as treason; and 
he, co-operating with a man who had incurred Balboa's 
enmity by making advances to his Indian wife, plotted to 
ruin him. Pedrarias was but too ready to listen to their 
tales, and smoothly invited Balboa to step over to Ada to 
attend to a Uttle matter of some importance. An astrologer 
had once told Balboa that should he ever behold a certain 
planet in a particular place in the sky, it would bode him 
desperate danger, which if he should evade he would become 
the greatest lord in the Indies. At this juncture, the star 
appeared ; but Balboa was not feeling superstitious just then, 
and accepted Pedrarias's invitation in good faith. Before 
he had got to Ada there came a band of soldiers to arrest 
him, commanded by one Francisco Fizarro, who had for- 
merly been a subaltern under Balboa. Balboa made no re- 
sistance, but when told that he was charged with treason, 
remarked that a man guilty of that crime would not have 
been likely to return to the lion's den to be devoured. No 
matter; justice was not what Pedrarias wanted but simply 
Balboa's head; which he received the same evening. Balboa 
was forty-two years old when thus untimely cut short, and 



200 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

would undoubtedly have conquered Peru, and administered 
it to much better advantage than Pizarro, but for this irre- 
mediable mishap. It was seven years before the adventure 
of Peru was again undertaken, and during that interval 
occurred the Conquest of Mexico. By way of a set-off 
against this brilliant feat of Cortes, Pizarro was sent against 
the Incas. 

Pizarro was the illegitimate child of an officer of good 
family, was wholly illiterate, and began the world as a keeper 
of pigs. He first appears in history as a member of Ojeda's 
expedition, was with Balboa when he gazed on the Pacific, 
and later was the agent of his arrest. He had been con- 
cerned in some expeditions down the southwest coast, pene- 
trating, perhaps, as far as the junction of the Isthmus with 
the main of South America. They called this country Biru '< 
or Peru, and thus did the land of the Incas acquire its Span- I 
ish title. It was now designed to proceed further in this 
direction. Matters were delayed however by the despatch 
of a new governor, Lope de Sosa, to replace the blood- 
encrusted Pedrarias; but this dreaded successor obliged the 
old demon by dying just as he came ashore, thereby giving 
Pedrarias seven years more of power. A southern ex- 
ploring expedition had been authorized by the Spanish gov- 
ernment, under command of Gil Gonzales Daviia, an able 
man, who accordingly appeared in Ada and demanded the 
ships which had been built by Balboa. This was in 1520, 
the year after Magellan had set out on his epoch-making 
voyage through the Straits. Pedrarias refused to let Gil 
Gonzalez have the ships, who thereupon built a fleet for him- 
53elf . It was destroyed by worms and weather, and he built 
a second. With these four ships he started, as he supposed, 
for the Moluccas ; but instead he got to the coast of X^icara- 
gua, where he found gold, and returned across the Isthmus. 
Evading Pedrarias, who sent to arrest him, he got his treas- 
ure to Hispaniola, and then set out again. Meanwhile Pe- 
drarias had sent Hernandez de Cordova to occupy Nicara- 
gua, with De Soto as second in command. They defeated 



PIZARRO 201 

Gil Gonzales; Cordova then threw off allegiance to Pedrari- 
as, but was by that able sinner arrested and beheaded. Gil 
Gonzales died in 1526 at Seville. It was now that Pizarro, 
with his two allies, Almagro and Luque, was despatched by 
Pedrarias for the Inca kingdom. 

The first essay brought him only as far as the Gulf of 
San Juan, just below the fifth meridian. The second, after 
reaching San Juan, sent a couple of ships onward, and they 
got as far as the equator, and saw Chimborazo. They 
brought confirmatory news as to the wealth of the Inca 
country. The ancient Pedrarias died a natural death in 
1530, and was succeeded by Pedro de los Rios, who gave 
fresh supplies to Almagro. Pizarro then once more started 
south, and this time landed on the small island of Gallo, 
whence Almagro was again sent back for supplies. But 
the governor detained him, and sent a ship to recall Pizarro. 
He refused to return, and sixteen men cast in their lot with 
him. After seven months Los Rios again sent a ship to look 
up the stubborn adventurer, who had been Hving meanwhile 
on snails and clams; but he persuaded Ruiz, the pilot, to 
help him explore the coast; and they edged along as far 
south as Truxillo, in latitude 6° south. What they saw fully 
confirmed the golden voices of rumor. They brought back 
gold, silver, and vicuna wool, and Pizarro sailed for Spain 
to get independent powers from the king. The king en- 
nobled him, and made him captain-general and adelantado, 
with orders to conquer Peru. He returned with his brothers 
and a small but ardent following. 

Of these brothers Fernando was the eldest and the only 
legitimate one; he was also the ablest and best educated. 
AU were brave soldiers. Almagro was taken aback by this 
irruption of so many Pizarros, and was not long in recog- 
nizing Fernando as his most dangerous rival. The feud 
between these two men was ended only by'Almagro's death 
on the scaffold seven or eight years afterward. The Pizar- 
ros, with two hundred men and fifty horses, landed at Tum- 
b:^ez, on the south side of the Gulf of Guayaquil, in the last 



=^ 



302 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

month of 1531. At that time civil war was distracting the 
country, the contestants being the legitimate Inca, Huascar, 
and his half-brother by a concubine, Atahualpa. The latter 
overcame his antagonist, massacred his family, and ascended 
his throne ; but kept Huascar himself alive from policy. Just 
at this time came news that a band of miraculous and terrific 
strangers had landed on the coast. Atahualpa's troubles were 
beginning early. He sent his brother Titu to welcome the 
visitors, which Titu seems to have done with a good deal of 
servility, bowing before Pizarro as the representative of deity. 
This reception gave the keynote to much that followed. Pi- 
zarro sent him back with indulgent words and pushed on to 
Caxamarca, an adobe and stone town of two thousand inhab- 
itants, with a temple of the Sun and a circular, defensive 
tower. The army of the Inca was drawn up, many thou- 
sands strong, on a ridge two miles away, clad in the usual 
armor of quilted cotton. The situation was very critical for 
the Spaniards. If their merely human and mortal character 
were suspected, they would have short shrift. But they took 
their cue from the conduct of Cortes years before, and kept 
a stiff front. They invited Atahualpa to a conference. He 
came next day, strongly escorted, to the market-place. A 
single priest, Valverde, came forward to meet him ; Pizarro 
was keeping the rest of his force out of sight. The priest 
presented the Inca with a Bible and read him a long lecture 
on Christian theology, concluding with a command to obey 
and worship the Pope. The Inca threw the Bible on the 
ground, with ah expression of natural resentment; upon 
which out rushed Pizarro and his men, captured the Inca, 
and slaughtered the rest of the party. The population, be- 
lieving this to be an act of the gods, offered no opposition. 
Atahualpa was confined in a room "twenty- two feet in 
length by seventeen in width" and perhaps eight or ten 
feet high. Reaching up to the extent of his arm, he made 
a mark upon the wall, and agreed to fill the room with gold 
as high as that mark, for his ransom. Pizarro promptly ac- 
cepted the offer, and thereupon the gold jars and ornaments 



PIZARRO 203 

began to pour in from all quarters. While this was going on 
Fernando Pizarro with some five and twenty companions rode 
about the country, and smashed the images of the gods in 
the temple of Pachacamac, to the huge dismay of the Indians, 
who concluded that he must be a greater god than any other. 
Returning in the autumn of 1533 to Caxamarca, he was joined 
by Almagro with reinforcements. By this time there was no 
less than fifteen million dollars' worth of gold collected as ran- 
som, and this sum was divided among the invaders ; but Al- 
magro and his party got much less than the others. Fernando 
Pizarro went to Spain with the king's share. Meanwhile 
Huascar offered the Spaniards a larger amount of gold than 
Atahualpa had given them, if they would set him free; 
Atahualpa heard of this, and procured Huascar's murder. 
This indication of the former's power made the Spaniards 
suspect that he might be able to arouse the people against 
them ; and it became expedient, in their opinion, to make an 
example of him. Though he had bought his immunity at 
the price of fifteen millions, and paid the money, he was 
brought to trial for conspiracy, condemned, and sentenced 
to be burned alive; but, in consideration of his adopting 
Christianity, he was indulged with a bowstring instead. 
This act was unquestionably bad in morals, but probably 
sound in policy. If a few hundred men are going to con- 
quer a country of many millions, the only way to do it is to 
take the high hand. The softer Christian virtues will not 
aid them. By destroying the Inca, Pizarro demonstrated 
to the multitude that he was stronger than the Inca ; and it 
also happened, to his advantage, that this particular Inca 
was an usurper, who, by a large part of the multitude, was 
thought to be deserving of just what Pizarro gave him. In 
order to emphasize this point, the shrewd Pizarro (though 
in general he was but a brutal and rather stupid ruffian) 
gave it out that he had been on the brink of recalling the 
fugitive Huascar and reinstating him in his dignities, when 
this ill-conditioned Atahualpa had had him killed. 

But there must be an Inca of some sort, to act as Pizarro's 



204 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

puppet ; and there being no possible lack of sons of Incas, 
one of these was selected, a sickly boy, and propped up on 
the blood-stained throne, where he died in a few weeks. 
Here and there throughout the country there were disor- 
ders and rumors of disorders; it was uncertain footing; one 
knew not how soon the illusion would vanish, and the Span- 
iards be discerned for the impudent cormorants which they 
really were. The greater the peril, the greater must be the 
impudence. On a march to Cuzco five hundred Spaniards 
were attacked by six thousand Indians, who were beaten 
off ; but this was the first attack that the invaders had sus- 
tained, and in order to intimate that they did not wish to be 
put to the trouble of killing Peruvians except in th6 ordinary 
way of massacre, they charged a certain chief who was ac- 
companying their march with having incited the attack, and 
burned him at the stake by way of rebuke. Once more, im- 
pudence won. The legitimate successor of Huascar, Manco 
Capac Yupanqui, came to Pizarro's camp and did homage 
to the vulgar, intrepid adventurer. It was a timely act; 
Pizarro took him under protection, brought him ceremoni- 
ously into Cuzco, and there placed him upon that shaky and 
gory throne with all the honors. It was November 15, 1533, 
just a year since Pizarro's entry into Caxamarca. When 
one considers the astonishing and quite unparalleled fortune 
which these bearded interlopers had met with during those 
twelve months, one seems to be reading an Arabian fairy- 
tale. But it is pathetic to reflect that it was religious rever- 
ence, sorely misguided, which led the unhappy Peruvians into 
these desperate scrapes. Such reverence is a most amiable 
and commendable quality; yet, perhaps, a people whose 
ideas of deity were so unsettled that they had become capa- 
ble of believing that Spaniards could be gods, deserved no 
less than they got. — Pizarro, presuming upon his success, 
established a municipal government in Cuzco, and made 
over the Temple of the Sun into a Dominican monastery. 
A supporter of the extinct Atahualpa having the effrontery 
to raise a standard of rebellion on the Quito border, Almagro 



PIZARRO 205 

was sent against him and extinguished him likewise. Anon, 
our old friend Alvarado of Mexico and Guatemala, to whom 
report had come of the golden riot going on in the south, 
marched thither with five hundred men, losing over a hun- 
dred men on the way. When at last he met Almagro, his 
own followers showed symptoms of mutiny and desertion; 
so that Alvarado, who had acquired prudence with years, 
made up his mind to be bought off, instead of pressing his 
enterprise further. He was paid a sum of gold in considera- 
tion of his quitting the premises, and so returned to Guate- 
mala not much better off, upon the whole, than he would 
have been had he stayed at home. The greater part of his 
men remained in Peru. Gold is a beautiful and useful creat- 
ure, while men keep the upper hand of it; but when it gets 
the upper hand of men, it robs them of every quality which 
makes manhood honorable. 

While Francisco Pizarro and his lieutenants had been cut- 
ting these broad swaths in the new country, the authorities 
in Spain had been arranging the titles and possessions of the 
conquerors : Francisco was now a marquis ; Almagro a mar- 
shal ; the former was to have a territory running south from 
Santiago River some eight hundred miles; Almagro's do- 
main began where Pizarro 's left off, and continued south- 
ward indefinitely; the trouble with it was, it had not yet 
been reduced to subjection. New Castile, and New Toledo, 
were the names given, respectively, to these great principali- 
ties. Almagro was none too well pleased. For aught he 
knew, or that any one could tell him, his New Toledo might 
turn out, after he had conquered it, to contain no gold at 
all ; it was fairly certain to contain a good many people who 
would oppose his authority, and cause him a great deal of 
annoyance, if nothing worse. And why should these Pi- 
zarros have all the pickings, when he, who had labored as 
hard as they, was waved off to the unknown south in this 
airy fashion? Who were the Pizarros but a parcel of scurvy 
bastards, who should be in the stocks, or broiling at the 
stake, if justice were done? Emphatically disgruntled was 



206 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Almagro, and nearly ripe for mischief. His claim that 
Cuzco lay within his boundary was disallowed, and when 
at last he disappeared into the wilds of Chili with his two 
hundred men, it was with the half-formed purpose in his 
mind to come back and make it hot for the Pizarros, unless 
Chili turned out much better than he feared. 

By this time Fernando Pizarro was back from Spain ; and 
in his wake was a great and ever-increasing number of gold- 
hungry and more or less worthless Spaniards, eager for pick- 
ings. Lima was founded in 1535, ships phed to and fro, and 
the work of settlement went on, while natives, pushed to the 
wall and disregarded, tried to look pleasant and think that 
it was all as it should be. But the time could not be much 
longer delayed when the true character of the invaders would 
be recognized, and that preposterous bubble of divine author- 
ity be pricked. The Spanish recognized this, and their policy 
was to intrench themselves as firmly as possible before the 
eruption took place. But the departure of Almagro for the 
south weakened the forces in Peru, and the Peruvians could 
not help perceiving that here was an opportunity to test what 
their uninvited guests were really made of. The Inca had 
no doubt laid his plans carefully beforehand. He escaped 
from Cuzco, and joined himself with his people; as if at a 
signal, the rebellion— if rebellion is a right name to apply to 
the concerted effort of a nation to gain possession of their 
own country — broke out on all sides like the crash of a thun- 
derstorm. Each body of Spaniards, in different parts of the 
coimtry, was cut" off from the rest, and had to trust to its 
imagination as to what might be happening elsewhere. 
Dread fell upon them, and they set up a wail for succor 
from the north. Fernando was in Cuzco, but the Inca held 
the great fortress of Sacsahuaman which commanded the 
town, and laid strict siege to the latter. The firearms of 
the Spaniards gave them a great advantage, in spite of their 
small numbers ; a few pieces of artillery would have been 
worth the world to the Inca. For six months the struggle 
continued, with no decisive success on either side; there 



PIZARRO 207 

were many stirring combats which are duly chronicled in 
the books; and we may be sure that the Spaniards have 
been given, by their historians, quite as much credit for 
valor as is their due. We have seen, in very recent times, 
what relation exists between the things that happen in a 
war in which they take part, and their report of the same. 
Making all proper deductions, however, we may still believe 
that they fought with desperate courage ; not a few of them 
were slain, including one of the redundant Pizarro brothers ; 
but every Spanish life was sold for ten or twenty times its 
value in the lives of Indians. At length the autumn came, 
and with it the necessity, for the fiiajor part of the Inca's 
army, to go home and attend to their crops ; else there was 
a famine in prospect. Meanwhile, with the remnant, the 
Inca fell back to the Yucay Valley, where he met with a 
fatal misfortune. 

Almagro had marched three hundred miles down into 
Chili, and had found it a very disappointing place. His 
worst fears were confirmed. The climate was cold and try- 
ing, and the golden cities were conspicuous by their absence. 
To be immersed in a region where no pillage was to be had 
was intolerable to the Spanish spirit, and the discontent of 
the army rose to such a pitch that Almagro could not have 
disregarded it, even had he not shared it himself. "Let us 
go back to Cuzco," said they, "and give those Pizarros good 
cause for admitting that it is our city after all. " They faced 
about, accordingly, and marched northward once more; and 
in due season arrived at a place where they found the Inca 
with his army, depleted as aforesaid, drawn up to receive 
them. A battle took place, and the Inca was overthrown, 
and his men were slaughtered by thousands. Encouraged 
by this success, Almagro proceeded onward to Cuzco, and 
made his demand for control of it. But Fernando Pizarro 
had not stood a siege for six months, for the sake of handing 
over his hardly-preserved stronghold to an unruly claimant 
from the wilds of Chili at last ; and he told Almagro that 
he must stay where he was. Almagro insisted that the city 



208 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

was his by reason of the established boundary ; this Pizarro 
disputed; and it was finally agreed that Almagro should 
remain outside until the question could be settled by au- 
thority. Almagro went into camp therefore, though with 
no good grace ; and when, in the ensuing spring, he discov- 
ered that Pizarro was secretly strengthening the fortifications 
against him, his patience gave out altogether. He watched 
his opportunity, caught the guards napping, entered the city 
by surprise, and took Fernando Pizarro and his brother Gon- 
zalo prisoners. 

Had he cut off the heads of both of these gentlemen on 
the spot, he would have saved himself years of struggle, with 
a death on the scaffold at the end of them. But he was not 
of the right fibre for the work that was laid upon him. He 
was not what the English would call "thorough" ; he hacked 
and foined, instead of fetching a good backhand stroke and 
making an end of it. Civil disturbances went on for eleven 
years, "in the course of which," as Professor Fiske remarks, 
"all the principal actors were swept off the stage, as in some 
cheap blood-and-thunder tragedy. It is not worth while to 
recount the petty incidents of the struggle: how Almagro 
was at one moment ready to submit to arbitration, and the 
next moment refused to abide by the decision; how Fernando 
was set at Hberty and Gonzalo escaped; how Almagro 's able 
lieutenant, Rodrigo de Orgonez, won a victory over Pizarro's 
men at Abangay, but was totally defeated by Fernando 
Pizarro at Las Salinas and perished on the field; how at 
last Fernando had Almagro tried for sedition and summarily 
executed. On which side was the more violence and treach- 
ery it would be hard to say. Indeed, as Sir Arthur Helps 
observes, 'in this melancholy story it is difficult to find any- 
body whom the reader can sympathize much with. ' After 
his victory at Abangay, Orgonez completed the overthrow 
of the Inca Manco, scattered his army, and drove him to 
an inaccessible fastness of the mountains." 

After Almagro's execution in July, 1538, Fernando 
thought it expedient to go to Spain and explain himself; 



PIZARRO 209 

but a friend of Almagro's had got there before him, and 
Fernando, let him explain himself never so nimbly, could 
get nothing better than a "surveillance" at Medina del 
Campo, which lasted no less than twenty years, during 
which time the only memorable thing he did was to marry 
his own bastard niece (daughter of his brother Francisco). 
Being relieved from his confinement in 15G0, he repaired to 
his estate in Estramadura, where he was born, and fourteen 
years later he died there, as it was high time he should, for 
he was one hundred and four years old. Old age and wealth 
are two things which are seldom bestowed by Providence 
where, according to our conception of morality and utility, 
we should expect. The only conclusion seems to be that 
Providence does not attach so much importance to these two 
things as we do. Keats died in his twenties; Shakespeare 
but just past fifty; Alexander in his boyhood; but Pizarro 
lived four years more than a century. As for the enjoyers 
of ill-gotten wealth — circumspice! 

Francisco Pizarro continued to order things in Peru, 
which was now pretty nearly in subjection; though the 
Inca still had his abode in the mountains, and made occa- 
sional incursions, which the Spaniards did not have great 
difficulty in repulsing. The roads which the Incas had 
made did excellent service for the invaders, who were able 
to maintain communications with all parts of the country. 
The Marquis amused himself with market gardening, and 
succeeded in acclimatizing various European vegetables in 
his new dominions. But while he was thus innocently 
engaged, his enemies, who were the adherents of the late 
Almagro, were laying plots against him. The Marquis, 
whenever he noticed them at all, behaved with such plen- 
tiful lack of tact and courtesy as to keep alive the flame of 
their hatred, if it were in any danger of dying out. Finally, 
in June, 1541, a number of cavaliers who had been very 
cavalierly treated by Pizarro, made up their minds to kill 
him. The affair occurred in Lima, just after the Marquis 
had finished dinner. One Juan de Rada led the conspira- 



210 HISTOEY OF SPAXISH A3IERICA 

tors, of "whom there •were in all nineteen ; but one of them, 
Gomez Perez by name, as the party were crossing the great 
square of the city, stepped aside to avoid a puddle that lay 
in his path. Rada, whose soul was bent on direful deeds, 
happened to notice this, and it seemed to him to harmonize 
so ill with the business on which they were bound, that he 
became angry. "What I here are we about to wade knee- 
deep in blood, and you hop to save your shoes from a pud- 
dle I Imbecile dandy! go home: you are no comrade for 
men!" Gomez Perez may or may not have been a handy 
man with his rapier; at aU events, the assassins managed 
their job without him. They attacked Pizarro with great 
fury; and his defence was highly creditable; but the odds 
were too great, and they stabbed both him and a half-brother 
of his named Alcantara, and a few chance adherents of theirs 
into the bargain. Having thus overthrown the reigning dy- 
nasty, the next step was to found a new one. Almagro had 
begotten an illegitimate son by a connection with an Indian 
woman ; he was known as Almagro the Lad, and this prom- 
ising youth was forthwith named governor of Peru. Mean- 
while, as luck would have it, Charles V. had sent Yaca de 
Castro to Peru, to take counsel with the Marquis as to the 
administration of the province; and, being by long experi- 
ence famihar with the ways of his subjects, especially of 
those who adventured in foreign parts, his majesty bade his 
emissary, in case anything should have happened to Pizarro, 
to assume the reins of government himself. The first thing 
De Castro learned on disembarking was that something had 
happened to Pizarro, sure enough; whereby, ipso facto, he, 
De Castro, became governor. Making due inquiry, he further 
learned that there were plenty of Pizarro men in the coun- 
try. He therefore proclaimed his succession; marched to 
meet the foredoomed Almagro, and in the battle of Chupas, 
in September, 1543, defeated and captured him, and cele- 
brated his victory by conducting the young man to the 
pubhc square of Cuzco, and there cutting off his head. 
Brother Gonzalo Pizarro was still in the flesh, and in 



PIZAREO 211 

Peru; but instead of stirring up a revolt against the new 
governor, he gave in his adherence to him, and then wisely 
retired to his private estate in Charcas, near Lake Titicaca. 
It was at just about this time, however, that Las Casas had 
succeeded in getting passed his laws for the abolition of 
slavery in South America ; and these laws demanded imtae- 
diate abolition. The execution of them would have worked 
prompt disaster to every Spaniard in the province, for all of 
them depended upon the labor of their slaves. Las Casas, 
as we have seen, did not come out to enforce the laws, in 
person ; and the opposition they aroused was universal and 
violent. A wise diplomatist might, nevertheless, have made 
headway, in time; but no such person was provided. On 
the contrary, the king sent out a man specially unfitted 
for the work; one Blasco ISTunez Vela, who appeared in 
1544, with the rank of viceroy, and set to work with head- 
long zeal to carry out his orders by all means fair or fouL 
Naturally, the foul means were those which he most inclined 
to employ ; he imprisoned all and sundry right and left ; and 
that measure not seeming drastic enough, he murdered rather 
than executed any person who crossed his path. In fact, in- 
dulgent historians intimate that perhaps this Vela was hardly 
in his right mind; at all events he does not seem to have 
fully realized that, if kiUing was the word, there were gen- 
tlemen in Peru who were as conversant with its meaning 
as himself. In short, the resident Spaniards revolted, and 
called brother Gonzalo out of his retirement to lead them. 
Out he came ; and after a year of skirmishing, with nothing 
decisive done by either party, the opposing ' forces met near 
Quito, and down went Vela with a crash, and was then and 
there slain. Thus did the force of circumstance once more 
raise a Pizarro to the governorship of Peru. King Charles, 
however, was not the man to sit quietly while his authorized 
representative was done away with; and he sent out, this 
time, a real diplomatist, with a tongue capable of making 
the worse appear the better reason, and of winning support- 
ers from the ranks of the enemy. He was an ecclesiastic, 
— 10 



31^ HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

and his name wj\s Pedi\> de 1h Gt\soa. He was endowed 
with official powers: but chiefly with brains, and with the 
tongue aforesaid. His first step was to repeal such parts 
of the abolition laws as bore haniest upon the colonists; and 
thereby he won their favor. Xo imtil after these gotxl news 
had been promulgated did Gj\sca venture to leave Panama 
for Peru. The captains of Pizarro's fleet had been de- 
spatched to Panama to meet and watch the new emissary, 
iind either stop him or bribe him. as might seem most expe- 
dient. But allowance had not been made for that tongue. 
Gasca wagged it to such good effect that Pizarro's captains 
began to feel that perhaps they were not Pizarro's cap- 
tains after all; at all events, they put their fleet at his 
disposal, and to Peru he came, landing at Tiunbrez in June, 
1547. Now was the time for Pizarro to declare that he had 
ao intention of resisting his sovereign, but had only opposed 
Vela in the interests of order and decency. But this Pizanv 
was tarred with the same br^sh as his brethren ; he liked to 
shed blood, thought he had a particular talent in that direc- 
tion, and was confident that he could show this sly priest 
^ome things in the "VN*ay of war which would more than 
counterbalance his gift of the gab. In short, he was brutal 
and unintelligent ; and his doom wt\s sealed by his first oper- 
ations, which were successful. Captain Diego de Centeno, 
acting for Gasca, captured Cuzco; but was defeated iu the 
battle of Huarina. Hereupon Pizarro pi-essed on, nothing 
doubting; and indeed one can hiu\lly blame him for his con- 
fidence, since it lay not in human foresight to anticipate the 
magical seductiveness of this Gasca's conversation. The 
armies met; but Gasca did but open his mouth, and Pizar- 
ro's soldiers began deserting by troops. The thing was in- 
exphcable: it was uncanny. We would call him a magnetic 
man, nowadays; and Pizarro's men were the iron filings. 
Even those who stayed by him could not be induced to 
fight; by great efforts fifteen men contrived to get slain; 
and then Pizarro, losing patience, got on his horse, rode 
over to Gasca's camp, and gave himself up. Gasca showed 




BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (From a photograph; 




THE PAMPAS TX -^"T^ ARGEXTIXE REPUBLIC 

Spanish Atnerica. 



PIZAiiUO %i'6 

that be wa8 a worthy successor of Spain's rulers in America, 

H^i took off Pizarro'H head the next morning; but there was 
among the latter 'b adherents a veteran officer who had fought 
in Italy, and wa« then eighty-five years old. He had noth- 
ing particular to do with the reljellion; but there he waa, 
with hia white hair and beard, and the scai-s of his honora- 
ble old wounds. A capital subject for spoi-t therefore. And 
the eloquent ecclesiastic issued the orders with that honeyed 
tongue, and looked on while the aged warrior was hanged 
and quartered. A quaint ending for a martial career of five 
and eighty years I This event occurred in, 1548; the ingen- 
ious Gasca lingered yet two years in the New World, jilying 
the nfxjse and the axe with unction; and then returned to 
his own country, where he received the mitre of a bishop. 
Another rebel arose after his departure, and was in his turn 
defeated and decapitated; and finally, in 1556, the Marquis 
of Canet^ held in complete subjection both the Indians and 
the Spaniards, and there reined the kind of peace that 
Spain has made her own. The Conquest of Peru was 
finished. 

The Inca whom Pizarro had defeated and made a fugi- 
tive was killed in a brawl by the same Gomez Perez who 
had avoided the puddle — who was in his turn immediately 
slain by the bystanding Indians. His successor was his son, 
Sari Tupac, Vjut when the Marquis Canete came, this sover- 
eign without sovereignty was induced to abandon his fast- 
nesses among the mountains, and his vain posture of hostil- 
ity, and accept an amicable asylum in the valley of Yucay. 
On his death, in 1560, his brother Titu Cusi Yupanqui re- 
verted to the mountains, where he held out for eleven years. 
He was poisoned by a Spanish monk, who was killed for 
"sorcery," and avenged by the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo, 
who slaughtered or dispersed the highland army, captured 
the new Inca Tupac Amaru, and beheaded him in Cuzco. 
There were no more Incas. 

But while Peru was thus settling down into the pleasant 
ways of peace, there had been interesting events in northern 



214 HISTOKY OF SPA^TSH A^IEKICA 

and eastern Soath America, to whicii some artention must 
now be given. 

"VVhatever mav be our animadversions against the Span- 
iards on the score of their greed for gold, there is no denying 
that it prompted them, as nothing else in the world could 
have done, to pursue the work of exploration, and to make 
the Xew World known with a rapidity which could never 
have been rivalled by mere geographers and ethnologists. 
Before the eyes of all the Spanish adventurers there hovered 
forever the vision of some absolutely golden country, where 
the precious metal was the veriest dross, and where every 
one might becc'me rich beyond avarice's dreams by simply 
stretching out his hand and taking. In quest of this vision 
they tmderwent labors and braved perils and siLfferings 
which wotild have been heroic in any other cause, and 
which incidentally afforded excellent material for innu- 
merable subsequent romancers. The success with which 
they were rewarded in Mexico, and still more in Peru, only 
made them imagine some yet more enormotis rewards; and 
thev kept up the desperate hunt tmtil the illusion died a 

i natural death. Their prolonged strugglings amid the pri- 
meval wilderness, deadly with fevers, with intolerable heats, 
with starvation and thirst, and with stealthy savages, afford 
a singular spectacle; not a cheerful one certainly, yet not 
devoid of a certain fascination. Gold did they get, and also 
often failed to get; blood they shed at all times; on their 

i first approach they were often welcomed as gods; but ere 
they had remained long, they were invariably hated as 
de-dls. Such were their nature and their destiny. For 
what sins of the American aborigiaes the Spanish scourge 
was let loose upon them we can only conjecture; in the case 
of the Aztecs we may surmise, with the moralizers, that it 
was in punishment of their reprehensible practice of sacrific- 
ing and eating their fellow creature; though there are tc 
this day many thriving cannibals in the South Sea and else- 
where, who ought to have been punished at the same time. 
The scourge had to come; the curse had to fall, and endure 



PIZAEEO 215 

its time ; and only to-day is it passing forever away. Let us 
hope that the history of it may admonish us to shun what- 
ever may cause us to be r^^membered as are the Spaniards. 
New Granada was the name given to that region of South 
America which is now called Colombia (though at first it 
was restricted to the country round the mountain town 
of Bogota) ; Venezuela was a vague term for a coast, and 
an unknown stretch of land back of it, roughly identical 
with what is now represented by the same name ; it was dis- 
covered, as we know, by Columbus in 1498. The Spaniards 
did not at first make much of it ; they landed on its coasts 
for gold and slaves, and in this way irritated the inhabitants, 
and made them dangerous to meddle with. But there was 
gold there ; and the Spaniards continued to make attempts 
to get it. The forests were dense and the arrows poisoned, 
and they could make Httle headway. Santa ilarta was 
founded in 1525, on the north coast. Quarrels arose among 
the rival adventurers, and Charles T. appoint-ed a governor, 
Garcia de Lerma. At the same time he leased the ambig- 
uous Venezuela to the house of "Welser. Bartolomaus Wel- 
ser, the founder of this famous firm of German bankers and 
commercial agents, who were the Rothschilds of the six- 
teenth century, had established claims upon the Spanish 
government by lending the king large sums of money ; "Wel- 
ser had been created a Prince of the Empire, but he was a 
business man, and desired rewards more concrete. Upon 
receiving the grant, Dalfin'ger and Seyler, representing the 
firm, landed at Coro, on the north coast, east of Lake Mara- 
caibo, where they heard a story about a chief somewhere 
in the interior of the country whose title was El Dorado, 
because he covered his whole body with powdered gold ; and 
it was further said that gold was common as dirt in that 
country. This story, unHke some others of that age, was 
founded on fact ; there really was a chief up in the moun- 
tains who, on certain ceremonial occasions, dusted himself 
over with gold. The habitat of the tribe of El Dorado was in 
the table-land of Bogota, in the province of Cundinamarca, 



216 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

in New Granada. Manifestly, this was a matter into which 
it concerned Messrs. Dalfinger and Seyler to look without 
undue delay. 

Of Bogota, Humboldt says, "this table-land has some 
similarity to the plateau that encloses the Mexican lakes; 
both lie higher than the convent of St. Bernard. Bogota 
is surrounded by high mountains, while the perfect evenness 
of the level, the geological constitution of the ground, and the 
form of the rocks which rise like islands from the midst of 
the savannas, all suggest a former lake-basin. The Rio de 
Bogota has forced a channel through the mountains south- 
west of Santa Fe. It issues from the valley of the estate 
of Tequendama, falling into a narrow caSon which descends 
to the valley of the Magdalena. If this opening, the only 
outlet the valley of Bogota has, were closed, the fertile plain 
would be converted into a lake like that of the Mexican 
plateau." 

On this temperate plateau lived the Muysca Indians. 
They were isolated ; their pursuit was agriculture ; the tribes 
outside their mountain walls were cannibals. All the tribes 
were in constant warfare with one another. The Muysca 
wove cotton, and picked up emeralds ; in spite . of the war- 
fare they maintained a lively trade, in the course of which 
an immense amount of gold got into the country; for the 
Muysca had no gold of their own, whereas the surrounding 
tribes possessed it in superfluity. The Muysca used it for 
ornament, and fashioned it into all manner of tasteful shapes. 

They dwelt in houses of wood and straw, and made tem- 
ples with pillars of stone. Their tools and weapons were of 
stone, and they made bronze vessels. They were a military 
democracy. The chief was the executive, and the elders 
served him as council. Their religion did not markedly 
differ from that of other tribes in like grade of culture. 
They had a worship of fetiches — striking natural objects; 
their lakes were accounted holy, and they offered homage 
to the deities supposed to inhabit them by the simple rite 
of throwing emeralds and gold into the water. The lake 



PIZARRO 217 

where the most notable and generous of these offerings were 
made was the lake of Guatavita, and it was here that the 
tale of El Dorado had its source. It lies north of Santa Fe, 
about two miles above sea-level, on the apex of a symmetrical 
cone ; it is about three miles in circumference, and a hundred 
feet deep. It has a bottom of fine sand. Near the lake was 
the village of Guatavita, the inhabitants of which were, in 
1490, an independent tribe. They had a legend to the effect 
that the goddess of the lake had been the wife of a former 
chief, who had thrown herself into the lake to escape a whip- 
ping, and, like the maidens of Greek mythology, had been 
made one of the Immortals. Her cult was popular, and 
extended even beyond the borders of the tribe. Pilgrims 
came from afar to add their offering of gold and emeralds 
to the divinity. At every new installation of a chief, there 
was an imposing ceremony ; first marched a squad of naked 
men painted with red ochre, as mourners ; then men adorned 
with gold and emeralds, with feather headdresses; and war- 
riors in jaguar skins ; these shouted and made an uproar on 
horns, pipes and conch shells. Black-robed ' priests accom- 
panied the procession, with white crosses on their breasts; 
and in the rear came the nobles bearing the new chief on a 
barrow hung with gold disks. He was naked, his body ren- 
dered sticky with resinous gums, and then smeared over with 
gold dust. Having jeached the shore of the lake, he got on 
a barge and was ferried to the centre, where he dived into 
the water, and washed off his gold, while the assemblage 
on the shore shouted in joy, and flung their offerings into 
the transparent abode of the goddess. After which the pro- 
cession returned as it came, and finished the day with eating, 
drinking and dancing, as is the wont of mankind of all races 
under cognate circumstances. Such was El Dorado ; a very 
pretty and picturesque matter ; but the fame of it got from 
that remote and well- protected table-land to the Spaniards 
and German Jews on the coast, and thence spread all over 
the civilized world ; and caused many persons a great deal 
of exertion, anxiety, evil passions, injury, and death. As 



218 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

we look upon it now, the game was obviously not worth the 
candle; but it lay with the Spaniards and the German Jews 
to prove just how much it was worth ; and their efforts are 
worth revie^\*ing. 

Daltinger, the German governoi-, started after El Dorado 
from Coro in July, 1529. He crossed the Gulf of Venezuela, 
and was then beyond the confines of his pro^^nce of Vene- 
zuela; but he was not aware of this, nor was there any one 
to inform him of it; for no white man had ever before been in 
this region. It was not a region which white men would 
seek from mere preference. It was terribly hot and un- 
wholesome ; the forest was a thick intertwinement of trunks, 
branches, vines and parasites; underfoot there were some- 
times oozy swamps, and sometimes puzzling hills. It was 
inhabited by savages of a low but fierce sort; but they had 
gold, and they could be used as slaves; and Dalfinger, who 
was a soldier of a rather more barbarous cast than the aver- 
age even ci that day, was out for slaves and plunder ; just 
what enormities he committed in those stifling and miasmatic 
woods we shall never know; but what we do know of them 
almost justifies the Spanish criticism that Dalfinger was 
even more fond of blood and cruelty than themselves. His 
scheme was to depopulate the regions through which he 
passed, and he came within measurable distance of realiz- 
ing his ideal. In course of time he had struggled to the 
banks of the great Magdalena River, and followed the wind- 
ings of one of its affluents southward, until the multiplicity 
of lagoons confused his route, and forced him up to a cooler 
region on the heights of the hills. Here he encountered an 
enemy who fought with such determination that he was 
unable to do away with him ; he was doubtless the Muysca, 
and Dalfinger was closer than he imagined to El Dorado. 
But too many of his men were dead by this time ; he could 
not advance, and" wintered where he was. In the spring 
he resumed his raid; but the natives drew him into the 
Ambrosia Valley, and there smote him terribly once more. 
With little more than a hundred men he retreated through 



PIZARRO 219 

the forest to Coro, which he reached in May, 1530. In spite 
of his reverses, he had brought back forty thousand pesos in 
gold, and had previously sent nearly as much by carriers 
to Coro; but this latter sum never arrived. Somewhere in 
those woods it lies scattered, forever lost to sight beneath 
the fierce tropic vegetation. It might be identified by the 
Spanish bones and armor that lie mingled with it. It has 
been said by some that Dalfinger himself died this year ; but 
the records make it appear more probable that his end did 
not come for two years more. At all events he never again 
sought El Dorado. 

But there were others to take up his work; and this time 
the Spaniards bore their share. A water and land expedi- 
tion was arranged to start from Santa Marta; one part was' 
to ascend the river on brigantines, the other to march by 
land and meet the brigantines at the town of Tamalameque, 
on the right bank of the river, the furthest trading point 
south in this region. The water party was commanded by 
Adalantado Lugo, late of the Canary Islands ; the land force 
was led by Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, afterward known 
by the title of El Conquistador ; he was at this time thirty- 
seven years old. He had six hundred and twenty men on 
foot and eighty-five mounted. Both parties set out in April, 
1536, but only the land party got to the rendezvous; the 
boats met with accidents, and the remnant of them turned 
back. Quesada had the enterprise to himself; but for a long 
time he was supposed by those on the coast to have perished. 

Quesada was making very nearly the same march that 
Dalfinger had made; but Dalfinger had at least had Indians 
to rob and to furnish provisions for his troops; these Indians 
were no longer accessible, and Quesada must find food as 
best -he could unaided. Meanwhile the poisonous plants, 
insects, and miasmas were as busy as ever; and his men 
kept dropping. But Quesada was a true leader, and he kept 
his soldiers to their work. ISTone of them endured more 
hardships than he, or endured them so well ; none was more 
active, resourceful, helpful and cheerful. At the same time 



220 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

his discipline was of the strictest. By hook or by crook he 
finally brought his force, or what was left ol it, to the ren- 
dezvous, only to learn that the succor they expected was not 
there. What was to be done? Retreat by land would be 
fatal ; he must go forward, and he chose to follow the paths 
of the salt traders from the upper waters of the river. A 
couple of leaky brigan tines had been left at Tamalameque; 
he pushed forward, and reached Latora, four hundred and 
fifty miles from the mouth of the Magdalena ; he had now 
been eight months on the march, and had met with no luck 
whatever, except bad luck. The brigantines could go no 
further; looking around him, nothing was to be seen but 
swirling streams and turbulent torrents rushing dow^nward 
and spreading out in all directions; the tropical rains had 
overflowed the rivers, and it seemed as if the whole world 
were turning to forest and flood. There was no moving 
either forward or back; must they then die miserably thus? 
The men were only kept from mutiny by their ignorance 
of what to do, and which way to go. Quesada sent two of 
his captains up toward the mountains, and in a few days 
they came back with news of men of some sort living up 
yonder. Quesada himself made a reconnoissance thither- 
ward, and found a village; he now sent his sick men back 
to Cartagena in the leaky brigantines, and with one hundred 
and sixty-six men — all that were left of his seven hundred — 
he pressed on to the great plateau of Cundinamarca. It 
was the opening of the year 1537. 

The Indians obstructed the Spaniards' advance as best 
they could, taking them for man-eaters ; but when the Span- 
iards had halted from fatigue, two of their horses ran away, 
and so frightened the savages that they fled. * Still advancing 
the next day, they came to a village deserted, on a plain 
surrounded by higher ground, from which the late inhabi- 
tants overlooked them. By way of appeasing wha,t they 
supposed to be their craving for human flesh, the savages 
offered them an old man, then children, and finally a naked 
man and woman, and a stag. The Spaniards ate only the 



PIZARRO 221 

latter, which gave confidence to the natives, and they came 
down from their eyries and made friendly overtures, which 
Quesada gladly accepted. This country was tributary to the 
Muysca, and hated them. They showed the invaders the 
route to the chief city of Bogota, where emeralds and gold, 
they said, were abundant. A battle with the Bogota people 
ensued; they were defeated; but in their scattering flight 
they took their gold and emeralds with them. Where the 
treasure was hidden the Spaniards could not discover. But 
at length a rival chief directed them to the stronghold of 
the Tunja tribe, and Quesada surprised the principal Tunja 
chiefs in their council -house; a fight followed, and the 
Tunjas got the worst of it. And here, at last, was treasure 
in plenty : so big a pile of gold and gems that a man on 
horseback could be hidden behind it. Probably as much as 
was obtained had been carried off or concealed ; but about a 
million dollars' worth of gold, and near two thousand emer- 
alds, were collected. But where was El Dorado himself? 
He could not be found, though always came the rumor that 
he was but a short distance further, this way or that. One 
report had it that the bulk of the gold v^as in possession of 
a tribe of warlike Amazons in the south. But Quesada had 
not the men to attempt a search in that direction. Ha 
founded the city of Santa Fe de Bogota, in August, 1538; 
in the midst of which employment he was surprised by the 
news that two other parties of white men were in the imme- 
diate neighborhood. One of them turned out to be that 
of Belalcazar, from Quito in Peru, lured hither by a New 
Granada Indian with tales of El Dorado; the other was 
commanded by Nicolaus Federmann, a lieutenant of Von 
Speyer, the successor of Dalfinger. Federmann too was in 
quest of El Dorado; and thus, by a coincidence, the three 
leaders were at the same time, with the same object, on the 
same spot. "Which of the three had the right of way? As 
a matter of fact, Quesada had that right; but the others 
would not admit it without a struggle. Had there been 
a fight, with the savages waiting to take advantage of it, 



222 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

tliere would soon have been no white men left in Cundiua- 
marca ; but the three captains agreed to submit 'heir claims 
to Spain, and departed for that country, leaving their armies 
to hold the territory. Federmann never came back. He 
had disobe3'-ed the orders of his superiors, and the "Welsers 
dismissed him in disgrace. Whether he died in shipwreck, 
or at Madrid, is not known; but die somehow he did, four 
or iive years later, Quesada^ was treated with base ingrati- 
tude, which ought not to have surprised him, being in the 
service of Spain; he was kept in semi-durance for nine years, 
and then was given the sop of a useless title. But the Span- 
ish hold upon Cundiuamarca was never relaxed, and it was 
the last of the three places — Mexico and Peru being the 
others — where a great treasure of gold, in a mass, was 
secured. But the search still continued for that impossible 
fairy region where all was gold; and though, before the 
end of the century, the market value of the metal had, ow- 
ing to the immense finds, decreased forty per cent, the search 
was prosecuted only the more eagerly. 

Already, about 1530, Diego de Ordaz had ascended the 
Orinoco, and had pushed into the interior in search of a 
golden province called Meta, toward the west. This was, 
under another name, and with some change of locality, the 
story of the El Dorado region over again. Ordaz was forced 
to retreat without discovering aught of value. During his 
absence from the coast, he had been superseded by one 
Sedeiio, and going to Spain with his complaints, as had so 
many disappointed Spaniards before him, he died at sea 
in 1533. Sedeno in his turn got into trouble; and in 1534, 
Alonzo de Herrera went up the Orinoco, and to the mouth 
of the River Meta ; but he was slain by savages, and only 
a few of his party got back to the coast. The next year 
D'Ortal attempted the same joiu*ney, but his men mutinied, 
and he gave up the business of adventure, and married and 
settled down, with a common sense which, for those times, 
seems preternatural. In 1535, Von Speyer, in the "Welser 
service, went in quest of Meta, from Core; he got into 



PIZAHRO 223 

flooded districts, and his command was much depleted by 
illness and Indians. He was one of the unlucky ones, but 
he was very persistent, and kept on to the sources of the 
Meta, and still further to the borders of Ecuador. After get- 
ting within a hundred miles of the equator, he was obHged 
to retreat, and reached Coro, very much the worse for wear, 
three years after he had left it. Meanwhile, as we have 
seen, his lieutenant Federmann, who had been ordered by 
Von Speyer to go west to fix the boundaries of Venezuela 
and Santa Marta or iTew Granada, had on the contrary 
started to find El Dorado on his private account, with what 
result we know. The upshot of these eight or ten years M'-as, 
some millions in gold and gems, and several lines of explo- 
ration earned across the wilderness of forest and savanna 
of northern South America. - 

The search was now to take a more southerly direction. 
We have already seen that Belalcazar had met Qaesada and 
Federmann in Cundinamarca. Belalcazar was there in de- 
fiance of orders from Pizarro; but the latter, not sorry to 
be rid of him, sent his brother Gonzalo to take his place at 
Quito. Gonzalo found little to amuse him in Quito, and 
making up his mind that Belalcazar was gone for good 
and swallowed up in the wilderness, resolved to take a hand 
at finding El Dorado himself. He shaped his route toward 
the south and the Amazon, though at that time neither he 
nor any one else knew that such a river existed. But innu- 
merable minor rivers — affluents of the Amazon — flowed in 
a southeasterly direction ; and Gonzalo sent his lieutenant, 
Orellana, by way of the Napo River, designing to meet him 
at some point along its course. But the ISTapo flowed so 
swiftly that Orellana reached the rendezvous long before 
Gonzalo, who was occupied in cutting paths through the 
dense tropic jungle. In fact, Gonzalo never got anywhei^e 
in particular; but in process of time reappeared at Quito in 
the last stages of destitution. Meanwhile Orellana, after 
waiting for him until his provisions gave out, was forced to 
go forward — go back against stream he could not— and from 



CU HISTORY OF SPANISH AIMERICA 

the Xapo he floated into the Amazon, and down that enor- 
mous stream he continued until he passed its mouth. Thence 
he proceeded up the coast to Cubagna, which he reached in 
1541 — ^the expedition having set out in 1539. He related 
that he had met with a tribe of women fighters on the 
banks of the river; and that a captive Indian had told 
him that a tribe of Amazons, having much gold, dwelt to 
the north. This story aided to fix the new site of El Dorado 
in this hypothetical Amazonian country; the only other 
result of the journey was the discovery of the river itself. 
Von Speyer being dead, his place as governor at Coro 
in the interests of the "^Velsers was taken by Bastidas; and 
he chose Captain Limpias to carry out the explorations which 
Ton Speyer had begun. TVith him went Von Hiitten, a val- 
iant yoimg German knight, and Bartolomaus "Reiser, son of 
the founder of the house. Yon Hiitten and his party set 
out in 1511, and blundered through the forests for nearly 
two years, returning in 15i3, with nothing done, to that 
point near the sources of the river Japura (close to the 
northern borders of Ecuador) from which they had made 
their plunge into the rmknown. But during his wanderings 
he had been told by an Indian of a rich country to the east ; 
at the time he had disregarded or distrusted this informa- 
tion; but now he thought it was at least worth looking into. 
Accordingly, with only forty horsemen, he started in that 
direction, and though warned by the friendly Uaupes that 
he was exposing himself to danger from the powerful tribe 
of the Omaguas, he kept on, and somewhere north of the 
Amazon and west of its juncture with the Rio Negro, he 
came upon one of the Omagua settlements. The Omaguas 
were a race which occupied, with their several branches, an 
enormous stretch of territory, covering thousands of miles; 
but none of their villages was very large, and they were at 
long distances from one another. The one upon which Ton 
Hiitten happened to stumble was perhaps one of the largest; 
at all events the annalists of the expedition assert that it mus- 
tered no less than fifteen thousand fighting men. Ton Hiit- 



PIZARRO 225 

ten and his forty followers, looking down upon the village 
from, a height, saw what they took to be a rich and thriving 
town, with a great palace in the midst, which they at once 
assumed to be the long-sought home of the Gilded One. As 
a matter of fact it could have been nothing but a large com- 
munal house, built of wood and straw. The white men rode 
down toward it, but were met by thousands of the sav- 
ages, who hurled back their charges, and finally drove the 
invaders off, and pursued them until they reached the coun- 
try of the Uaupes once more; several having been slain, and 
both Limpias and Von Hiitten wounded. But in spite of 
their discomfiture, the white men were happy, believing that 
they had found El Dorado, and only had to get sufficient 
reinforcements to return and capture it. 

As soon as they had recovered from the effects of their 
fight and flight, they took up their march across half the 
length of the continent for Coro. But now a quarrel arose, 
between Limpias on the one side, and the Germans, Von 
Hiitten and Welser, on the other. Limpias demanded to be 
made commander of the expedition ; but Welser maintained 
that he, as son of the firm that leased Venezuela from Spain, 
had the first right to that dignity. Von Hiitten naturally 
backed his fellow-countryman. The three wrangled as they 
threaded their way through the forests and waded or swam 
the rivers; and at last Limpias left the others, and rode on 
ahead to Coro, meaning to complain to the Spanish represen- 
tatives and destroy German influence in South America. The 
party had been absent four years ; and events had occurred 
in the interval which favored Limpias's plans of revenge. 

Coro, which had no agricultural support, and was cursed 
with one governor after another, each a greater rogue and 
scoundrel than his predecessor, had finally wound up with 
a past master of villany in the shape of one Carvajel, who 
was both hostile to the Germans, and also a traitor to Spain. 
In order to escape from German control, he proposed to the 
Spaniards, who formed the bulk of the colonists, to leave 
Coro and enter New Granada territory, where they would 



226 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

be in better circumstances. And in fact he led a hegira 
southward to Tocuyo, a pleasant spot not far from Coro. 
Hither came the revengeful Limpias, and found a ready 
Hstener to his tale. Yon Hiitten and Welser, with their 
men, were not far behind, and no time should be lost in 
devising means for their destruction. Emissaries were sent 
back to meet the advance guard under Yon Hiitten and 
Welser at Barquicimeto ; the two Germans were told a tale 
which brought them on to Tocuyo, where a quarrel was 
forced upon them ; they were arrested by Carvajel, and the 
t next day they were duly beheaded. This was the end of 
i German power in Yenezuela; for although Carvajel himself 
was decapitated not long after, and Limpias disappeared, 
the Welsers never again attempted to renew their hold upon 
the province. "Yon Hiitteu's fate," says Bandelier, whom 
we have followed in this narration, "the extinction of the 
settlement at Coro, and the threatened depopulation of 
the Yenezuelan peninsula, precluded any further thought 
of an expedition into the interior southward. The Brazil- 
ian coast was too far from the unknown interior, which was 
concealed in immense forests. The western coasts, particu- 
larly those of New Granada and Peru, where the Amazon 
begins its course, not only lay geographically nearest to the 
region in question, but were also the seats of the strongest 
and richest settlements of the Spaniards in South America : 
the only ones from which campaigns could now be under- 
taken. But although the population of the west had rapidly 
increased under the stimulus of the metallic treasures found 
in the country, events in Peru made further expeditions im- 
possible for years. The conflict between Pizarro and Alma- 
gro culminated in bloodshed in 1538. An unbroken succes- 
sion of crimes, to which nearly all the conquistadores fell 
victims (thereby expiating their own offences) marked the 
progress of the insurrection, till it overshadowed the coast 
from Chili to Popayan. And when the insurrectionists pre- 
vailed from Popayan to Atacameta, then the threatened 
storm loomed also over the southern horizon of New Gra- 



PIZARRO 227 

nada and reached the heart of Cundinamarca. It was no' 
time for expeditions to the interior — every force had to be 
used for self-preservation. In this period a man came upon 
the stage in New Granada who is to be especially associated 
with El Dorado. He was Don Pedro de Ursua, a young 
knight from Pampluna in Navarre; he was nephew of the 
royal judge Armendariz, who arrived with him in 1545. 
Armendariz came as Inquisitorial Judge, and appointed his 
nephew his lieutenant. ' ' 

The Bogota government had been in the hands of a thief, 
Alonzo de Luga, who on hearing of the Judge's arrival, took 
his booty, amounting to three hundred thousand ducats, and 
escaped to Milan, where he died in comfort. Ursua took his 
place at Bogota. He was then twenty years old, and acted 
as military aid to Armendariz. The Muysca had ere this 
been subjugated, but other savage tribes were still inde- 
pendent, and as it was from them that the Muysca had 
got their gold, it seemed doubly expedient to subdue them. 
Ursua waged a war of extermination against them, and 
murdered all the chiefs of the Musos, by treachery. This 
exploit recommended him to the authorities, and he was 
sent to Panama to exterminate the natives there. He ac- 
complished this in two years, and in 1558 followed Caneta 
to Peru. Here there were living a large number of disor- 
derly persons, relics of the. various rebellions, of whom the 
viceroy wished to be rid; and the best plan seemed to be 
to send them out of the country on some grand adventure. 
The region east of the Andes was to be the objective point. 
Chili, New Granada, and the banks of La Plata were al- 
ready occupied by Spaniards ; the expedition must go where 
it would disturb no existing colony. The rumors of gold in 
Brazil were already rife. No difficulty was found in getting 
volunteers for the expedition, for the disorderly element was 
as anxious to get away before their records were investi- 
gated, as the authorities were to have them go. Ursua was 
chosen for the leader. He was to be governor of whatever 
countries he might conquer. Not till 1560 was he ready to 



2-2 S HISTORY OF SPANISH AMEEIGA 

start. The scam of Peru composed the army, and there 
were women among them. To captain such a rabble, a man 
of exceptional strength of character was needed ; Ursua was 
bold and reckless enough, but he was frivolous and indolent. 
He set an ex^miple of immorality from the beginning, robbing 
the priest of Santa Cruz of five thousand pesos, and taking 
with him as his mistress the young and beautiful widow of 
Pedro de Arcos, the Donna Inez. Before getting off, he 
hanged several of his followers for the murder of one of 
his officers ; and this act of incongruous severity boded him 
no good. But on July 1, 1560, the advance guard got off 
in a brigantine to the mouth of the Rio Ucayali. It was 
commanded by Juan de Vargas. The rest, delayed by the 
unseaworthiness of their boats, did not foUow tUl the end of 
September. Everybody was surly and dissatisfied. When 
they overtook De Vargas they found his party half starved, 
and the brigantine rotten. These men therefore had to find 
room on the already crowded boats of the main body, which 
caused more trouble, increased by the fact that Ursua insisted 
upon reserving ample accommodations for himself and the 
fair Inez. Below the mouth of the Xapo the fiotilla landed, 
found provender, and repaired the boats. The Indian guides 
pointed still eastward as the site of the gold country. By 
Christmas they were in the Omagua country, where he de- 
cided to rest awhile. His men were already ripe for mutiny, 
and there was a certain Aguirre among them who was weU 
fitted to be the leading spirit of the worst desperadoes in the 
world. 

Aguirre was fifty years old, a Biscayan, and had already 
spent twenty years in Peru. He was a fugitive from justice 
for many violent and bloody crimes ; was short and spare in 
figure, ugly, black-bearded, eagle-eyed. He hated all gov- 
ernment, order and civilization; was shrewd, an excellent 
speaker, and a man who knew just what he wanted at all 
times. He was, says the sober Bandeher, "the most detest- 
able figure of the Conquest." 

Ursua 's heedlessness gave the conspirators every oppor- 



PIZARRO . 229 

tunity. About Christmas time, a number of the best soldiers 
had left the camp on an exploring expedition. On the first 
of January, 1561, a party of men well-armed came unbidden 
to Ursua's quarters, where he lay in a hammock. Without 
ado, they fell upon him and killed him; Juan de Vargas was 
the next victim, and with shouts of "Liberty!" the murder- 
ers assembled in the hut of Fernando de Guzman. The lat- 
ter was made governor, with Aguirre second in command. 
Upon consultation, the majority were in favor of continuing 
the search for El Dorado, though Aguirre was with the dis- 
senting minority, A paper declaring Ursua's death a neces- 
sity was signed by all, and Aguirre wrote his name, "Lope 
de Aguirre, Traitor." To the protests of the others he said, 
*' We have killed the king's representative; we are all trait- 
ors and rebels, and our heads are at the order of the first 
pettifogger who comes among us with royal authority." 
Many who heard this speech were angry, but it terrified 
all, for they knew its truth; and Aguirre, as the boldest 
among these desperate criminals, and the one who best 
knew what to do, gained an influence over all. Fernando 
de Guzman became the Biscayan's tool. The party pro- 
ceeded down the river, suffering for food, and finally eat- 
ing the horses; Aguitr© made use of the demoralization 
that prevailed to get all the approximately decent men out 
of their commands, and to substitute creatures of his own. 
After passing the mouth of the Japura, the Indian guides 
confessed they did not know the country, and it was decided 
to invade Peru! 

How were they to get there? The plan which Aguirre 
now disclosed was magnificent, as such things go. They 
could not of course return by the way they had come. His 
proposition was to keep on down the Amazon to the sea; 
capture Margarita by surprise, thence proceed to Nombre 
de Dios and Panama; and having possessed themselves of 
the latter, they would trust to the terror they should have 
already inspired, and to the support of the many thousands 
of desperadoes like themselves throughout Spanish America, 



230 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

to accomplish the rest of the enterprise. The very magni- 
tude and audacity of the scheme fascinated Aguirre's hear- 
ers ; a paper announcing independence of Spain was drawn 
up, and all but three signed it. Two of these were killed; 
one — Francisco Vasquez, who afterward wrote the story of 
the adventure — escaped. It now remained for Aguirre, in 
order to get chief command, to murder Fernando de Guz- 
man; the other officers had been already disposed of. Guzman 
was liked by the men on account of his courtesy and good 
humor; in order to render him unpopular, Aguirre worked 
upon his ambition and vanity; he proclaimed him "Prince 
and King of the mainland of Peru"; whereupon Guzman 
became haughty and arbitrary, and took on a state and 
dignity which offended the men. His fall, when the right 
moment should have arrived, was now certain. 

Meantime new boats were built, and before Easter the 
start was made. In order to avoid further temptations to- 
ward El Dorado, Aguirre changed the course of the expedi- 
tion to the Rio Negro. It was now that Aguirre determined 
to make away with Guzman, and his friend Salduendo, to 
whom ere this the beautiful but inconstant Inez had attached 
herself. He first quarrelled with Salduendo, murdered him 
with his own hands in Guzman's presence, and then sent 
two assassins to kill Inez, which they did with circumstances 
of revolting atrocity. Guzman, at last alarmed, resolved on 
Aguirre's death; but he was too late. Aguirre collected his 
adherents that night and slaughtered Guzman and six officers 
who attached themselves to him. The next morning he was 
proclaimed "General of the Maranon," and his band received 
the name of Maranones. "Whether the expedition passed 
down the Orinoco or the Amazon is uncertain; but at all 
events they reached the ocean on July 1, 1561. During 
the trip, Aguirre, who ruled now by terror, murdered eight 
more of the band. "Every new crime,*' says Bandelier, 
"attached the rest, by the sense of common guilt, more 
closely to their leader, who, like an evil spirit, led them, 
with an iron will, to further crimes." 



PIZARRO 231 

At Margarita, Aguirre captured the governor by surprise 
and took the fort ; seized the royal treasury and provisions 
and ammunition, and proclaimed independence. He then 
sent some of his men to capture a large ship in the harbor; 
but they took the opportunity to desert and surrender to the 
priest Montesinos, to whom they made confession of the plot. 
Montesinos at once sent messengers to warn the Venezuelan 
settlements, and ere long fifteen hundred men were under arms 
in New Granada ; in Venezuela, two hundred and sixty. All 
this while Aguirre was awaiting the return of his faithless 
emissaries, and was robbing and murdering on all sides 
throughout the island. Finally the vessel he was expecting 
came in sight ; but it flew the royal flag of Spain ! Aguirre 
promptly killed the governor of Margarita and his principal 
officers, and went down to prevent the ship from landing 
its men. The ship then set sail to carry the news to the 
Antilles and the Isthmus. Aguirre determined to invade 
Venezuela, which, owing to the depletion of its inhabitants 
on El Dorado expeditions, was nearly without inhabitants. 
He obtained a vessel in which he embarked his well-armed 
cutthroats, hoisted a flag bearing the device of two blood - 
red swords crossed, and set sail. Passing Burburata, whose 
inhabitants fled to the woods, he marched to Valencia, some 
of his men deserting him on the way. He burned the aban- 
doned town, and indulged in the wildest fantasies of brutal- 
ity, even toward his own followers ; and issued a manifesto 
addressed to the king of Spain which is full of evidences of 
insanity. He now turned southwest toward Barquicimeto, 
his men still gradually dropping away from him ; the town 
was deserted, but a royal force under Paredes prevented 
Aguirre from going further. For several days deserters 
continued to flock to the royal flag, and Aguirre became 
more violent but also less powerful. At last Paredes re- 
solved to risk an attack ; before battle could be joined, the 
men remaining with Aguirre threw away their arms and 
cried for the king. Aguirre, finding himself lost, went to 
the room in which was his only daughter, a grown maiden, 



232 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

and said to her, *'My cliild, God have mercy on your soul, 
for I am going to kill you, so that you shall not live in mis- 
ery and shame the child of a traitor.*' With that he stabbed 
her to the heart. The royal troops approached ; he went out 
to meet them, and though Paredes wished to capture him 
alive, his late followers would take no risks, but shot him 
down like a mad dog on the spot. They chopped off his 
head, put it in a cage, and exhibited it in Tocuyo. His 
memory to this day is a bogey to frighten children withal 
in Venezuela. But with his death, the systematic search 
for El Dorado ceased, though many persons subsequently 
were affected by the legends concerning it. El Dorado him- 
self had ceased to be before the first searchers started out to 
find him; and he became a sort of unsubstantial mirage, 
to lead men astray, until the trail was finally lost in the 
marshy forests of northern Brazil. 



CHILI . a33 



IV 

CHILI 

1'^HE time needed to conquer Peru could almost be meas- 
ured by months; Chili was not completely in the in- 
vaders' power after some centuries had elapsed; and 
the Araucanian Indians, though they have, within this gen- 
eration, accepted the situation, never were finally overcome 
by Spaniards. There are still over fifty thousand of these 
indomitable mountaineers occupying the southern part of 
the long-drawn-out region which bears the name formally 
bestowed only upon a small section to the north ; they retain 
the personal dignity and independent bearing which were 
theirs four hundred years ago; and though the fierce alco- 
holic liquors prepared for them by Europeans may gradually 
avail to extinguish them, they will always be remembered 
as the single aboriginal American race who never bent their 
necks to the yoke of foreigners. For this they merit the 
thanks of all friends of manhood and liberty. 

When we inquire as to the condition of Chili before Al- 
magro marched thither from Cuzco, we find the ambiguity 
common in answers to all similar questions in the western 
continent. The Incas had previously invaded the country, 
but it is probable that they never got further south than the 
River Maule, in south latitude thirty -six degrees, some two 
hundred miles below Valparaiso. The inhabitants were 
divided up into fifteen tribes; but as these all spoke sub- 
stantially the same language, it was surmised that they 
had originally been one people; or that Chili had in the 
/ remote past been ruled by a strong and semi- civilized race 
which had now disappeared, after the style of the ancient 
Piruas of Peru. This is a surmise and nothing more; hav- 
ing the value and the lack of value attaching to all like 



234 HISTORY OF SPANISH AIMERICA 

guesses. Here, at all events, were some millions of people 
who, unlike the Peruvians, a'cknowleclged no paramount 
lord, but lived almost in a state of individual freedom; 
each tribe had its chiefs, but the power of the latter was 
far from absolute, and they could be deposed for cause. It 
was this fact that made the c.3untry so hard a nut for Span- 
iards to crack ; it was in vain that they murdered the native 
leaders, and hung up their remains in trees to scare their 
followers ; the latter were only the more enraged and fought 
the harder. It was in vain that the Spaniards built towns 
and planted colonies here and there ; the Indians came back 
like the tide of the sea, and again and again overwhelmed 
the foreign settlements. Spain has been hated by all other 
nations ever since she first achieved her own national exist- 
ence; but she has never been more soundly hated than by 
the natives of Chili, and has never fought so many battles 
with such small result as there. To-day, the country is held 
by a race of more or less impure blood, endowed with an ape- 
like imitativeness and superficial intelligence; vain, insolent 
and quarrelsome; slothful and frivolous in character, and 
quite devoid of independent initiative. . Left to themselves, 
they could accomplish nothing. But the country is rich in 
an industrial population of Englishmen and Germans, who 
carry on all operations conducive toward the development of 
wealth and power. They build the railroads and bridges, 
construct the irrigation works, superintend the mining oper- 
ations, and promote commerce. It is in Europe that ships of 
war are built; and it is to European docks that they must 
be taken to be repaired. The war leaders and rulers of Chili 
who have achieved success have been Irishmen or other for- 
eigners ; whatever institutions and laws are of value in ChiU 
have been introduced from foreign sources. The cause that 
has drawn these valuable foreigners to Chili has been, of 
course, the great natural wealth of the country, especially 
nitre and silver in the north, and an inferior kind of coal in 
the south. The Creoles own the land in which these natural 
sources of wealth are found, and they receive consequently 



CHILI 235 

the major part of the profits from them; but there still re- 
mains enough to attract foreign workers. The financial 
existence of the country now depends chiefly upon the nitre 
deposits in the north, in the region lately conquered from 
Peru; but the time is anticipated when this resource will 
have been exhausted; and that time will involve serious 
consequences to Chili. The country is nominally a repub- 
lic, whose pohtical institutions are borrowed from those of 
this country; but in fact it is a vicious oligarchy, in which 
almost absolute power is vested in the President, who, though 
he cannot immediately succeed himself, has the privilege of 
naming his successor. The bulk of the population, outside 
of the Spanish Creoles, consists of peons, who are a sort of 
bastard Indians, the progeny of the lower aboriginal tribes, 
generated by the vices of their masters. They have been 
oppressed for so many generations that they hardly retain 
respectable human traits ; they are hard workers for infini- 
tesimal wages, and live almost in a state of savagery; their 
only pleasures are petty thieving and drunkenness. A com- 
munity of this kind cannot hope for permanent existence; 
the recent prosperity of Chili is an accidental and transient 
phenomenon, which will disappear as soon as the transient 
causes which have led to it cease to operate. Never was a 
title bestowed upon a people with less justification in fact 
than when the Chilians are caUed the ''Yankees of South 
America." If they were left to themselves for but one 
generation, they would vanish as a nation. The child born 
to-day will probably see their finish; and they will be suc- 
ceeded by the men who for so long a time have really ad- 
miuistered the country. Under the latter, Chili doubtless 
has a bright future; and the sooner that future begins, the 
better will it be for civilization. 

For the country itself is a beautiful and desirable one, 
well-suited for the habitation of an energetic and respectable 
race. It begins at about south latitude 17*^, and extends be- 
low latitude 55°, in Tierra del Fuego. This length of nearly 
three thousand miles has by no means a proportionate breadth: 
— 11 



236 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

at the widest it measures but three hundred miles. On the 
east it is bounded by the long chain of the Andes, lifting 
snow-crowned summits from end to end of the continent. 
Parallel with the Andes, the coast range guards the western 
boundary along the Pacific ; the height of these mountains 
is but a fraction of that of the Andes; but the two enclose 
the long, irregular valley which sustains the population. 
In the south, the coast is broken up into countless small 
islands, with sounds and winding inlets of the sea separating 
them; and the geological formation of the northern portions 
shows that in prehistoric times the coast range was a similar 
chain of islands, and that the long valley was an inland sea, 
or a series of salt lakes, washing the western slopes of the 
Andes. In the extreme north, the so-called desert of Ata- 
cama presents an arid region where upon the clay and rock 
of this ancient sea-bottom is imposed a layer formed of the 
residue of decayed seaweed, which, owing to various chemi- 
cal changes and additions, has become the nitre of com- 
merce. No rivers traverse this region, and rain falls there 
scarce once in five years, and even then it amounts to little 
more than a heavy dew. Were it otherwise, the nitre beds 
would be washed away, and the present wealth of Chili 
would go with them. But it would be possible, in some 
places, for irrigation to restore the desert to fertility; and 
this must ultimately be done; meanwhile, any attempt to 
cultivate by this means is forbidden, for vegetation would 
change the climate, and, by introducing a moister atmos- 
phere, bring on the rains which would hasten the destruc- 
tion of the nitre industry. South of the desert is the agri- 
cultural section of Chili, where irrigation is carried on with 
favorable results, and where the scenery is of enchanting 
loveliness. This fertile stretch extends over barely ten de- 
grees of latitude. Further south the landscape again takes 
on a severe and barren aspect, and so merges into the forlorn 
domains of Patagonia, 

"When Almagro was ready to begin his march into this 
then unknown land, he had his choice of two roads, both 



CHILI 237 

built by the Incas in their usual massive maimer ; on© would 
lead him" by way of the desert and the sea ; the other along 
the Andean mountain range. If he took the first, he was 
liable to perish of thirst and heat ; if the second, of cold and 
starvation. He chose the latter alternative, and, accompa- 
nied by Peruvian guides, he set out accordingly, as we have 
seen in the foregoing chapter. He had with him five hun- 
dred and seventy Spaniards and fifteen thousand Peruvians; 
by the time he saw the green vales of middle Chili, he had 
lost by the way four hundred and twenty Spaniards, and 
five thousand Peruvians. It was an arduous journey, -and 
made at the least favorable time of the year, when the passes 
are buried in snows and swept by furious storms such as the 
Spaniards had never before experienced, and for enduring 
which their preparations were deficient. In their anxiety to 
keep alive, the invaders were not likely to pay much atten- 
tion to the features of the scenery from the aesthetic stand- 
point; but nowhere save among the Himalayas of northern 
India does nature assume such grandeur and sublimity of 
form and color. Beauty so stupendous and austere is hardly 
to be described; but an American traveller, Mr. Theodore 
Child, gives us a glimpse of an Andean sunrise (at a point 
further south) which is worth quoting. "My eyes rested 
in wonderment," he says, *'on the surrounding snow-clad 
ridges, above which towered in the distance the conical peak 
of Tupungato. It was a singularly impressive sight. The 
gloom of the night still lingered in the valley; the lower 
ranges of mountains seemed to emit darlmess ; the outlines 
of the bowlders, scrub and cactus plants were not yet sharply 
defined ; the earth appeared as if it were half asleep, lulled 
by the subdued roar of the Mendoza River rolling its torrent 
of brown-gray water along its deep and tortuous bed ; the 
only other sound perceptible was the tinkling of the mule- 
bell and the soft pattering of hoofs upon gravel and pebbles. 
Suddenly the summit of Tupungato reddened, and in a few 
minutes all the topmost ridges became brilliant and almost 
transparent, like molten copper as it flows out of the fur- 



-238 HISTORY OF SPAXISH AMEEICA 

nace. The spectacle of sunrise in the Andee was one that 
I contemplated each morning with ever-increasing awe. for 
each morning it seemed more wonderful, more beautiful, 
and more indescribable." 

Of the desert he remarks that it "has been aptly com- 
pared to an immense chemical laboratory, so ' great is its 
richness in salts of various kinds. In these latitudes the 
coast rises rapidly to a height of about three thousand feet, 
and thence eastward we find the country mountainous, the 
coast Cordillera continuing its course parallel with the Andes. 
On the gentle slopes of the eastern cordillera the nitrate beds 
occur at a distance from the sea of from twenty-five to fifty 
miles, and at a height of from three to four thousand feet 
above the sea. So then we have in the east the great masses 
of the Andes, in the centre a longitudinal valley or pampa 
resembling the dry bed of a river, and on the west the 
gentle slopes and undulations of the coast cordillera, where 
the nitrate deposits are foimd along the edge of the pampa. 
. . . Passing Las Carpas and San Juan, we attain a height 
of over three thousand feet. All that we see is sand and 
rock, or a sort of red conglomerate strewn with bowlders, 
and loose flint or limestones ; but the outlines of the moun- 
tains are beautiful in silhouette, the undulations of the lower 
valleys have a singular softness, and the brilhant sunshine 
plays over the interminable wilderness of hill and dale, de- 
veloping in the arid rock and sand a variety of color that 
replaces the effect of vegetation, and sometimes e'^en pro- 
duces the illusion of some dark green growth which might 
be appropriate in a lunar landscape. There are places too 
on the hillsides where Nature's chemistry has painted graceful 
designs, as it were arabesques of fohated Gothic windows, 
with the colors of green, violet and yellow oxides, while the 
other brown hills are toned with a velvety purple haze of 
sun-smoke, soft as the bloom on a plum. ... In the morn- 
ing it is calm; toward one o'clock a strong wind sweeps 
along the valley, raising clouds and whirlpools of dust; at 
sunset the calm returns, and the brown hills assume the 



CHILI 239 

most brilliant colors, while the gray sandy pampa becomes 
tinted with pink and violet. After we reach the upper table- 
land the absolute barrenness ceases so far as it concerns the 
pampa proper, where some dry bushes of the acacia family 
still grow with gra,j and dusty pertinacity. In the distance, 
over the glaring waste of sand and scrub, you see the snowy 
peaks of the Andes, and on the horizon of the plain innu- 
merable spiral columns of smokelike dust rising to a great 
height. On the other side of the line are the deep red- 
brown slopes of the foothills of the coast Cordillera, and 
the band of gray sand and brown conglomerate beneath 
which the nitrate lies." 

But Almagro and his men had no eyes for these things; 
they were busy keeping watch for the savages who ever and 
anon swooped down upon them ; and in scanning the dark 
rocks, where the gales had swept them bare of snow, for 
traces of the golden deity which they worshipped. But 
nothing of value rewarded them; and the contrast between 
the features of this ne>v land, and the easy opulence of the 
one they had left behind them, forcibly affected most of 
the company; insomuch that they besought their leader to 
take them back to Ouzco. But Almagro was an obstinate 
as well as a weak man; and though he was at this time 
certainly sixty, and possibly seventy years of age, he would 
listen to no arguments for retreat. The wholo of Chili could 
not be mountain summits and snow ; there were valleys fur- 
ther on, and to reach them might mean boundless wealth. 
So on he went, loading his baggage on such natives as he 
could capture, heedless though they perished by scores. On 
one occasion a sqaad of these unhappy Indians, driven to 
madness by the intolerable cruelties practiced upon them, 
slew three of their oppressors; upon which Almagro inflicted 
upon them the discipline of being burned alive, which proved 
effective, so far at least as those burned were concerned. As 
they neared Copiapo, about twelve hundred miles south of 
Cuzco, he rode forward with a few horsemen, and brought 
succor from the natives there. But for this help, the 



340 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

entire party might have left their bones among the snow- 
drifts. 

Upon reaching the fertile valleys, they were received in 
a friendly manner, owing to the presence with them of a 
personage of authority from the Peruvians ; and an officer 
was despatched on a reconnoitring expedition still further 
south. Paullu, the Peruvian, managed to induce the na- 
tives to bring in treasure to the amount of half a million 
ducats, which Almagro distributed among his followers in 
order to check the still strong tendency to retreat. 

The Chilians at this epoch were not so far advanced in 
the arts of life as were the Peruvians. Onlj" the northern 
tribes had felt the influence of Peruvian culture ; the south- 
erners were still in their healthy, primitive condition. But 
all had arrived at the condition of settled communities; they 
cultivated crops, they mined metals, and had domesticated 
certain animals. They had a copious language, cooked their 
food, made bread, and brewed a dozen kinds of spirituous 
liquors. In person most of them were tall, strong and ac- 
tive, with a complexion of light reddish brown, sometimes 
approaching white. Cities, in the Peruvian sense, they had 
none, but lived in patriarchal hamlets, ruled by ulmens, who 
were in turn subject to a cacique of the tribe. Each farmer 
was master of his own field; there was none of that land- 
ownership by the State which obtained in Peru. A people 
with this form of government could be subdued only in de- 
tail ; the conquest of one body of them would have no effect 
upon others. They had in them the spirit of the mountains, 
and valued liberty more than life or any worldly possessions. 

On the other hand, their arms were of the ineffective 
description, compared with those of the Spaniards, which 
characterized all the American tribes. They made cloth 
garments, which their women adorned with embroidery, 
and dyed with vegetable or animal extracts; they manu- 
factured a kind of soap; and their utensils were of well- 
fashioned pottery, wood and marble. They had a sys- 
tem of numbering, and their records were kept by quipus. 



CHILI 241 

after the Peruvian style. They sat on mats and kept 
their belongings in baskets; they went to sea in canoes, 
and fished with fish-hooks; they knew something of as- 
tronomy and physics, and had some rather rude notions 
of drawing and carving. They called themselves Chil- 
dren of the Sun, and are supposed to have worshipped 
the sun and moon; they had the red men's vision of 
happy hunting grounds after death, and believed that 
those who died fighting in battle were certain of a happy 
immortality. They were afflicted, like our own Puritan 
Fathers, with a potent belief in witches, whom they 
stabbed to death with their knives; their laws were not 
many, but they were strictly enforced. Cleanly they were 
in the extreme, in this respect offering a sharp contrast 
to their invaders, who then as always were remarkable 
for their affinity with dirt. They took particular pains to 
keep their magnificent teeth white and clean, and were 
careful to remove all hairs from the faces and bodies. The 
women were dressed in woollen garments of a green color, 
with a cloak and girdle; the men wore shirts and breeches, 
woollen caps and footgear, and over all capacious wooUen 
ponchos. Cleanly and careful attire is still a characteristic 
of the Araucanian Indians of to-day. 

The country was thickly populated, and was well able to 
support a large number of inhabitants. The fertile valleys 
were watered by more than one hundred rivers, and those 
regions not favored by nature were made green by irriga- 
tion, which was an art well understood and deftly practiced 
by the natives. The climate resembled that of southern 
California; the rains were gentle and the winds moderate. 
Earthquakes, however, were not uncommon, and there were 
numerous active volcanoes to lend interest to the landscape; 
But here was great actual and potential wealth in agricult- 
ure, manufactures, and cattle, without burrowing beneath 
the surface of the ground. Had Almagro and his men had 
eyes and senses for anything but gold, they might have set- 
tled in these valleys with ample profit and advantage. 



242 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

But gold, upon investigation, though the country was by 
no means destitute of it, was not found in such abundance 
as in Peru ; and news at this time arriving that the Spanish 
government had reported favorably upon Almagro's claims 
to Cuzco, he finally resolved to return thither. But before 
doing so, he managed to incur the enmity of the natives by 
burning an ulmen, his brother, and twenty others, for some 
trifling offence; and in a fierce battle with the Promaucians 
the Spanish had none the better of the encounter, and re- 
treated. Almagro made no effort to wipe out the stain of 
this check; back to Peru he went, and we already know his 
further fat«. It is to Pedro de Valdivia that the question- 
able honor of the first resolute attempt to conquer Chili is 
to be ascribed. 

Valdivia was an able soldier, and not devoid of other 
merits ; he is one of the less repulsive figures of this epoch. 
He was born about the beginning of the century near Es- 
tramadura, had served in the Italian wars, and came to 
Venezuela in 1534. He fought under Pizarro at the battle 
of Las Salinas in 1538; and in 1540, with Pedro de Hoz, he 
marched from Cuzco with a hundred and fifty Spaniards 
and some thousands of Indians. He chose the road along 
the sea and the desert ; and as his object was not merely to 
invade the country but to settle it, he took with him a num- 
ber of women and priests. At this time he knew nothing 
of the Araucanians ; probably he would have shghted their 
valor even if he had; for his fault was over-confidence in his 
powers, and in the ability of a handful of Spaniards to defeat 
any number of red men. He gained much knowledge from 
hard experience in the course of the next fifteen years, and 
finally paid for his education with his life. He founded 
and occupied his seven cities, but he was unable to hold 
them, or to save them from destruction; and when he per- 
ished, it was with the bitter knowledge that the Araucanians 
were everywhere triumphant. 

Before going further, it will be well to get some closer 
idea as to what these famous Araucanians were. In Mr. 



CHILI ~ 343 

Hancock's "History of Chile" they are described at some 
length. From time immemorial, he says, they have "in- 
habited the country lying south of the river Biobio, their 
territory extending to the vicinity of the city of Valdivia, 
and covering all the region between the Andes and the 
Pacific. The province of Arauco gives the leading tribe 
its appellation, or rather, perhaps, the province is named 
after the tribe. They divided their country into four 
political divisions running from north to south, calling 
each division a uthul-mapu. The first was named in 
their language the Maritime country, and comprised the 
provinces of Arauco, Tucapel, Boroa and NagtoUen; the 
next — the plain country, comprised Encol, Puren, Repo- 
cura, Maquegagua and Mariquina; the country at the foot 
of the mountains included Marven, Colhue, Chacajco, 
Quecheregua, and Guanagua; the country of the Andes 
— Piremapu — included all the valleys of the mountains in- 
habited by the allied tribe, the Puelches. They had three 
orders of nobility" — adds Mr, Hancock, defying the wrath 
of Professor Fiske — "the toquis, who stood at the head of 
each uthul-mapu ; the apo-ulmenes, who governed provinces 
under the toquis; the ulmenes, who were the chiefs and un- 
der the apo-ulmenes. The military system was efficiently 
organized. A grand council determined upon war, and 
elected a general-in-chief, to whom all the toquis and ul- 
menes were subjected, and whom they obeyed during the 
continuance of hostilities. Envoys were then dispatched 
to the confederate tribes ; each toqui directed what number 
of men his uthul-mapu should furnish, and in this way an 
army of five or six thousand men could soon be raised. Be- 
fore proceeding to hostilities a three-days' conference was 
held, at which every one was permitted to speak, and the 
situation of enemies, condition of affairs, and necessity for 
war were thoroughly canvassed. If war were decided on, 
the vice-toqui, who had been previously selected, assumed 
command of the right wing of the army, assigned the left 
wing to an experienced officer, and then each soldier put on 



244 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

his leather cuirass, took up his heavy war-club or long spear, 
and prepared to die with his face to the foe. Impressed, like 
the Saracens, with the idea that to die in battle is the highest 
earthly honor and a sure passport to the happy country be- 
yond, they advanced singly to combat, and shouting like 
fiends sought to penetrate the centre of the enemy's forces 
in a hand-to-hand encounter. Their foes discomfited, they 
divided the spoils of war and enslaved their prisoners, some- 
times offering up one or more of them to propitiate their gods 
of war, after they had humiliated the captives with all the 
marks of ignominy that they could devise. Usually there 
was but one prisoner sacrificed; when he was dead, the 
chiefs sucked a little blood warm from the victim's heart, 
and then his skull was made into a bowl from which wine 
was drunk at a banquet. At the termination of their vari- 
ous wars with the Spaniards a congress was always held on 
a plain between the Biobio and Duqueco Rivers, where the 
Spanish president and the vice-toqui met in the presence of 
the armies and agreed upon articles of peace. The Aran- 
canians made war a principal business, and their youths 
were early instructed in the use of arms, were seldom pun- 
ished, and were applauded for lying and insolence. It was 
a saying with these Indians that chastisement makes men 
cowardly. "We do not read of their having such grand mili- 
tary contests and chivalrous initiations as the Incas provided 
for their young men ; but there were military games in which 
the boys engaged, chiefly one of the mimic siege of a for- 
tress, and another having every appearance of a battle." 
Such, as depicted by Mr. Hancock, wer^ the leading traits 
of the people with whom Valdivia was now to have a great 
deal of serious trouble. 

Yaldivia began to meet with resistance from the time he 
reached Copiapo; these provinces had been under subjection 
to Peru, but had been freed by the death of Atahualpa. 
Their lack of organization and united action, however, made 
it comparatively easy for Valdivia to throw them aside : and 
he kept pushing forward until he reached the present site of 



CHILI. 245 



Santiago, where he determined to make his first settlement 
It was fuU six hundred miles south of the then southern 
boundary of Peru, so that there would be little temptation 
for his soldiers to desert him and return thither; and the 
natural advantages of the site were manifold. Indeed, after 
nearly three hundred and sixty years, Santiago is stiU the 
capital of Chili, and the most important and handsome town 
in it. *'It hes hemmed in by mountains, closing the per- 
spective of every street, and rising in grand silhouettes, 
even more beautiful in winter than in summer; for then 
the mountains are covered with a mantle of snow which 
reaches to within a short distance of the plain, and ceases 
there m a sharp line, marking the limit of the temperate air. 
The climate is delightful; rain falls only during the four 
winter months; the mean summer temperature is seventy 
degrees, that of winter fifty-two; day after day for weeks 
together the thermometer scarcely varies, and the sun shines 
m a clear sky with a constancy that fills the soul with con- 
tentment. The view from the top of Santa Lucia on a 
moonhght night is of unsurpassed charm. The whole plain 
extends before the spectator, with its dark enclosing moun- 
tains; at his feet Hes the expanse of the town, with its red- 
dish tile roofs, its patios, from which rise masses of foliage— 
the whole plunged in mysterious black permeating shadow 
relieved by patches of silver sheen where the moonhght 
strikes the roofs and sahent objects. To the foot of the 
Andes the vast plain stretches darkly, and, to close in the 
perspective, the imposing silhouette of the mountains towers 
up Ike a silvery phantom, above which the moon is radiant 
with pure and dazzhng briUiance. The landscape is so ad- 
mirably composed, so perfect is the picturesque arrangement, 
and the management of light and shade so ideally excellent, 
that it suggests how admirable is the view of nature modi- 
fied by art; it reminds one of transcendently beautiful scene- 
painting." 

..J^]^^™ ^^^^"^ ^'^ ""^^ *o^^ o^ St. Valentine's Day. 
1541; but as February 14th is also the day of San lago, who 



246 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

is a better known saint in Spain, it received his name. It 
was a town of many vicissitudes; but it bears few traces 
of them to-day. Among the first buildings to be erected 
were the cathedral and the palace of the bishop : such was 
the faith of the soldier-builder in the permanence of his set- 
tlement. Upon the hill of Santa Lucia a fort was put up, 
which certainly was a more prudent act, from the merely 
material point of view, than the consecration of the religious 
edifices. 

In fact, the neighboring tribes were prompt to evince 
their lack of neighborliness, and news came to Valdivia that 
they meditated an attack, "With his usual forehandedness, 
he seized some of the Mapochinian chiefs and confined them 
in his fort, and then himself went at the head of a troop of 
cavalry to reconnoitre the attitude of the Promauoians, who 
were liable, in his opinion, to ally themselves with the former. 
This was the Mapochinians' opportunity ; they cared nothing 
for the lack of their own chiefs, but perceived the advantage 
of the absence of the captain of the invaders ; and down they 
came upon the new city. The inhabitants fled at once to 
the citadel, where a woman, Inez Suarez, by way, perhaps, 
of showing that the presence of her sex in the colony could 
be of benefit in more ways than" one, took a hatchet and 
chopped out the brains of the captive chiefs. Meanwhile 
the warriors of the natives set fire to the town, and reduced 
half of it to ashes; and then made repeated attacks upon the 
fort. The conflict raged from dawn to sunset; but Monroy, 
the commander, contrived to send a messenger to Valdivia. 
He came^ back hot-footed, and, after a desperate fight, drove 
away the enemy for the time ; but they renewed the contest, 
and not for days or for months, but for six mortal years they 
kept up the attacks, until the Mapochinians had been deci- 
mated, and the Spaniards were reduced almost to the last 
extremity. Valdivia would doubtless have kept it up until 
no one was left to fight, had he not discovered a plot among 
his own men to mutiny and retire to Peru. He lost no time 
in cutting off the heads of the ringleaders; and having thus 



CHILI 247 

cooled the fever of revolt by blooding it, lie soothed the 
anxiety of the survivors by promises of peace and profit in 
the immediate future. And as luck would have it, a gold 
mine happened to be discovered at this very juncture ; and 
this instilled more determination into the hearts of the Span- 
iards than either religion or hope of glory could inspire. A 
ship was sent to Peru for reinforcements, and meanwhile 
the defenders buckled on their armor anew. 

In addition to the ship, which might get wrecked, Val- 
divia despatched an armed party by land, who decorated 
themselves with gold trappings, in order to produce an effect 
upon the hearts of their kindred in Peru which the mere 
summons of mortal extremity might fail to supply. At 
Copiapo this bedizened company was set upon by natives, 
who slew them all save two ; these were to be put to death 
with admonitory tortures. The wife of the ulmen, however, 
found it in her tender heart to intercede for them with her 
lord, after the manner later made famous by our own 
Pocahontas ; and her lord consented, on the somewhat sin- 
gular condition that they should teach his oldest son how 
to ride. The^y agreed to the stipulation with enthusiasm; 
and then was demonstrated the difference between the gal- 
lantry of Captain John Smith and that of Spanish cavaliers. 
The latter, taking the young man out into the open plain, 
proceeded to acquaint him with the first principles of holding 
on with his knees. Then, watching their opportunity, when 
the admiring father and mother were far off, and the youth 
wholly preoccupied in his new enterprise, the chivalrous 
Monroy stabbed him through the heart, and his companion, 
Miranda, having snatched a lance from one of the near-by 
attendants, the two heroes were soon out of sight in the dis- 
tance. The ulmen and his wife were fain to pick up the 
corpse of their son, and digest their rebuff as best they 
might; what the father may have said to the mother on the 
occasion, concerning the quality of mercy to Spaniards, we 
have no means of knowing. But Indians have long mem- 
ories; and some time after this same tribe caught a party 



248 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

of Spaniards at unawares, and slaughtered them to the last 
man — there being forty vicarious victims in all. 

The Spaniards in Peru, however, got the news of Val- 
divia's danger, and sent him forces by sea and land. The 
commander of the former, Pastene by name, after relieving 
the siege of Santiago, was sent southward by Valdivia to 
explore the coast down to the Magellan Straits. That was 
a voyage worth taking, and Pastene was practically the first 
to enjoy it ; for when Magellan went through the Straits, 
a score of years before, he saw only the most barren portions 
of the region, and his mind was fixed not on what was before 
him, but on what lay beyond. But the long archipelago 
- which flanks Patagonia on the Pacific side is one of the most 
picturesque and exhilarating scenes in the world. Beginning 
at the Gulf of Penas, there is a winding passage between the 
islands and the shore nearly four hundred miles in length, 
and varying in breadth from five miles to as many hundred 
yards. It is an endless gorge, through which the tides of 
ocean ebb and flow, and sweep with strong currents, while 
on either hand rise steep, rocky mountains, rugged and deso- 
late as they came from the creative hand, yet clothed with 
splendid verdure, on their lower slopes, down to the water's 
edge. The peaks are about three-quarters of a mile in 
average height; the water is half a mile in depth; the chan- 
nel opens out toward the land in wide bays and lagoons, 
where a ship may come to anchor and traffic with the wild 
Indian tribes which sparsely inhabit the country. Far in- 
land, as the ship, goes on, are seen ranks of jumbled and 
irregular summits, many of them crowned with perpetual 
snows ; while mighty glaciers slope downward to the valleys, 
and push their gigantic burdens slowly seaward. The air 
is cold; the water clear as crystal, so that the dense growth 
of seaweeds is visible at immense depths; and among the 
weeds swim great fish of strange forms, and ever and anon 
a whale rises to the surface and sends its feather of white 
spray aloft. Many of the rocks are black as coal, with white 
seams running through them; these, with the deep green 



CHILI 249 

foliage, the dazzling snows, the blue sky, and the mingled 
emerald and sapphire of the marine depths, make a scheme 
of color of unsurpassed power and charm. Many of the 
islands are entirely uninhabited ; and everywhere the Indians 
are migratory ; they come and go in then- canoes, living on 
fish and mussels, dressing in the scantiest garments, and 
exposing themselves without a shiver to the semi-arctic tem- 
perature which makes white men huddle themselves in furs. 
The huge stature of the Patagonians, their hardy habits, 
their savage customs, have often been described; nothing 
could be more desolate and seemingly forlorn than their 
condition, and, it might be supposed that life in such circum- 
stances was hardly possible. Yet the race was vigorous and 
prolific, until the white men tried to improve it; the intro- 
duction of European clothes has caused a mortality which 
will soon extirpate the wearers. They are being carried 
off by scores, victims of lung diseases of various kinds, to 
which they had before been strangers. But in Pastene*s 
day such fatal attentions were as yet far distant ; the Span- 
iards came never to give, but to take away. And as there 
was nothing for them to take from the Patagonians, no harm 
was done on either side. 

One of the most striking features of the scenery of these 
parts is the magnificent form and hue of the clouds which 
continually impend in the sky, and seem almost as solid as 
the remote mountains, and are even more wild and stupen- 
dous in shape. Sunrise shows vast masses lying in heavy 
layers over the peaks, black, dark gray, with edges of shin- 
ing silver; through a jagged rent in the midst of them the 
sky is vivid blue, and as the sun approaches the horizon 
there are gloamings of gold and up-darting rays of pencilled 
light. Gradually the deep shadows that have rested on the 
lower lands are dispelled, and more and more the molding 
of the islands, the divisions of the foliage, and each impres- 
sive feature of the mighty loneliness are revealed. As day 
fully dawns, thin white lines of cataract are seen falling 
from the heights, between the masses of dark green and 



250 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

yellow foliage that clothe the umber rocks ^ blue ice-fields 
glitter here and . there ; the nearer hills are almost black 
below, their upper parts covered ^^-ith buff-colored Uchens. 
Seaward the islands stand out in hues of indigo, and high 
overhead forever drift the cohorts of sombre clouds with 
silvery seams. As the latitudes further toward the antarctic 
are gained, the fohage disappears, but the rocks are still rich 
with many-colored mosses and hchens, for the atmosphere 
is full of chill moistm-e, and the heavens often descend in 
furious rains. On shore there is little earth, but the foot 
sinks deep in decayed- vegetable matter, woven roots of 
shrubs, and thick low bushes. A few tiowers of delicate 
and exquisite tints are found among the ferns; and there 
is a species of moss peculiar to this region, white and finely 
fibrous, like silver feathers. Sea-birds and otters are the 
only animals; occasionally an albatross rises on high with 
steady wings, drifting solemnly along the sky. In the 
Straits themselves the wildness and irregularity are in- 
creased, and all nature seems more awful and immense; 
this is the unfinished part of the world ; even the beauty has 
terror in it. Black Cape Froward, southernmost point of 
known continents, lifts its vertical front above the sea ; be- 
yond it Mount Victoria ascends in white sublimity, swathed 
in cloud; anon, a hundi'ed miles away, the grand symmetry 
of Mount Sarmiento is disclosed, a triangle of snow floating 
in mid-air. Here, amid everlasting cold, is the ending of 
the Andes, whose northern ranges pass through the burn- 
ing zone of the equator. Passing further eastward, we see 
the final stretches of the steppes and pampas which extend 
without a break to the torrid forests of Brazil and the Ama- 
zon ; and we feel the long roll of the Atlantic surges. The 
voyage is done. 

It is not probable that Pastene, in his cockle-shell craft, 
penetrated as far as this ; it could not take him long to make 
up his mind that the country contained little of interest to 
Spaniards. The voyage, however, took the better part of 
a year; and on his return it was foimd necessary to send 



CHILI 251 

to Peru for more troops, for the Indians ware becoming 
more dangerous than ever: they had lately decoyed the 
Spaniards into an ambush, with a story of a treasure of 
gold, and having got them just where they wanted them, 
had sprung out and MUed them every one, except only Cap- 
tain Rios and a negro, who told the dreadful tale. The In- 
dians had then followed up their success by destroying the 
new arsenal, and a frigate newly launched. But Valdivia 
was a persistent man; he built a fort to protect the mines, 
and founded a new city in a good strategical position at the 
mouth of the Coquimbo, which ultimately became the centre 
of a thriving province. In the year 1545 Valdivia succeeded 
in persuading the Promaucians to join him in a league 
against the Araucanians: by far the mc«t important step 
he had yet taken in the process of subduing the country. 
It enabled him, the next year, to push southward as far as 
Quilacura; but at that point he met with a defeat so severe 
that it compelled his retreat to Santiago. More men must 
be obtained for the conquest of these Araucanians. Val- 
divia, remembering the maxim — If you want your errand 
done, go : if not, send — started north in person to drum up 
recruits. He left Francisco de Villagran as his locum tenens 
during his absence. Villagran did the best he could; he cut 
off the head of De Hoz, who had accompanied Valdivia to 
Chih, and had been making himself somewhat obstructive 
ever since. Meanwhile one of the local tribes made a descent 
upon the new town on the Coquimbo and it disappeared in 
fire and blood ; but a fresh one, in a somewhat more defen- 
sible position, was presently substituted for it. Valdivia, 
after helping Gasca the priest to overcome Pizarro, and re- 
ceiving as his reward confirmation of his title as governor 
of Chili, and ample men and supplies, came back ready for 
more trouble. He marched two hundred and forty miles 
south of Santiago, and on the shores of the Bay of Pence 
he founded still another city, known to history as Concep- 
cion. This was in 1550; the town was destroyed, not by 
Indians this time, but by earthquake, two hundred years 



253 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMEEICA 

later; and the present eitv of Xew Concepcion was estab- 
lished somewhat further south. But meanwhile there was 
destined to be much opposition on the natives' part; thev 
had not become accustomed to foreign rule. The Arauca- 
nians, uniting with local tribes, made ready to clear the 
coimtrj- of Spaniards. An armv of four thousand Indians 
crossed the bloody Biobio and gave battle to Taldivia ; but 
that stout warrior succeeded, after a desperate conflict, in 
driving them back for the time. In the following year 
(1555) he carried the war into the enemies' country, and 
penetrating as far as the jimction of the rivers Cauten and 
Damas, founded there another city named Imperial, which 
was to become the centre of many Homeric contests. Imag- 
ining that the work of conquest was already done, Taldivia 
began to portion out baronies among his followers ; but their 
titles proved to be but nominis umbra. The Araucanians 
had not yet had their say. The Spaniards, however, were 
permitted to advance as far as the present site of the town 
of Taldivia, the sixth settlement founded by its namesake, 
and vigorously defended on account of the gold mines found 
in the vicinity. Three forts were also built to protect the 
line of communications between this extreme southern point 
and Santiago. The city of Angol, the seventh and last of 
the series, was founded in 1553, about a hundi-ed miles south 
of Concepcion. Taldivia then organized his military estab 
lishnient, sent another explorer to investigate the facih- 
ties of commvmicating with Spain by way of the Magellan 
Straits, and despatched Alderete to the Spanish court to 
negotiate for the recognition of Taldivia as perpetual gov- 
ernor of the new country. 

Whatever the attitude of Spain in the matter, the Arau- 
canians had yet to be reckoned with. There was among 
them a remarkable old Ulysses named Colocolo, who added 
to ardent patriotism a wonderful sagacity in both war and 
intrigue. He travelled over the country preaching a crusade 
against the invaders. A great conference was held among 
the various tribes, and a chief named CaupoUcan was, at 



CHILI 253 

Colocolo's suggestion, chosen commander-in-chief. This hero 
was modest and valiant, a giant in stature, and wise in coun- 
sel as he was brave in battle ; he had but one eye, but he saw 
more with it than others with their two.' His first exploit 
was the capture of the fort of Arauco, which he accomplished 
by an unexpected attack, compelliag the garrison, after se- 
vere fighting, to evacuate and retire to the fort at Puren. 
The garrison of the Tucapel fort was in like manner driven 
to Puren; from which place word was sent to Valdivia of 
their peril. He starts for the seat of war with two hun- 
dred men and five thousand Indians; he sent forward 'a 
reconnoitring party of ten horsemen under Diego del Oro; 
all of whom were slain by Caupolican, and their heads sus- 
pended from trees, after the fashion taught to the Arauca- 
nians by the Spaniards. Upon seeing this grisly fruit, Val- 
divia's soldiers wished to go back ; but the veteran was still 
confident, and would listen to no craven councils. The two 
armies came in sight of each other on the 3d of December, 
1553, and manoeuvred for position. The right wing of the 
Araucanians was led by Mariantu; the left by Tucapel, the 
Murat of the host. At the opening of the battle, Mariantu 
attacked and cut to pieces the Spanish left, and served in 
the same manner a detachment sent to their support. At 
the same time Tucapel swept down upon the Spanish right. 
The latter 's artillery wrought terrible havoc among the In- 
dians, and they were thrice repulsed, though without being 
thrown into confusion. At the critical moment of the fight, 
a young man saved the day for the Araucanians. His name 
was Lautaro. He had been previously captured by Valdivia, 
baptized, and made a page; but he seized this opportunity 
to escape from the enemies of his country and join his friends. 
He called on them to follow him in a final charge; they 
caught the contagion of his valor, and collecting themselves 
swept the Spaniards and their allies from the field with 
awful carnage. Valdivia himself was captured ; he begged 
hard for his life, even promising, if he were spared, to quit 
Chili with all his followers; nor did he scruple to entreat 



'loi HISTOKT OF SPANISH A3IERICA 

Lautaro to intercede for him. This Ae magnanimotis former 
page did ; bat in rain. The grim (Ad nlmens knew too well 
the worth of Spanish promises ; and disregarding Yaldiria's 
screams for mercy, one of them crushed his skull with his 
war-dab. And the next day the trees that grew in the great 
plain again bore Spanish heads as fruit; and Lautaro was 
appointed Caupolican*s second in command. At the council 
which was forthwith held, it was resolved, in accordance 
with the advice of old Colocolo, to make a general attack 
upon all the Spanish strongholds. Angol and Puren were 
promptly abandoned by the invaders, who congregated in 
Taldivia and Imperial. L^autaro fortified himself in the pre- 
cipitous mountain of Mariguenu, in order to prevent possible 
Spanish incursions southward. Of a band of fourteen Span- 
ish cavaliers who were riding from Imperial to Tucapel, seven 
were slain by the Araucanian Lincoyan. The inhabitants 
of CJoncepcion were terror-stricken at these catastrophes. 
Villagran was chosen Valdivia's successor. He made care- 
ful preparations, and advanced with a strong army of Span- 
iards and native allies toward Mariguenu. In a narrow 
defile Lautaro fell upon him; the Spaniards tried to scale 
the mountain, but were checked by slings and arrows, and 
a body of the Indians, falling furiously upon the Spanish 
cannoneers, captured the guns. An attack was then deliv- 
ered upon the Spanish front, and it gave way, Villagran 
flying headlong with the rest and barely making good his 
escape. The remnant of the Spanish army was piu^ued 
by Lautaro to - the river Biobio, where the Araucanians 
paused, and the fugitive staggered into Concepcion. There 
Villagran stayed only long enough to gather together what 
property he could, and then, with all the inhabitants, he fled 
to Santiago. When Lautaro entered Concepcion the next 
day, he found nothing there but empty houses, which he 
destroyed. The Seven Cities were having a hard life of it. 
An attempt, some time afterward, to retake and rebuild 
C^^ncepcion was prevented by the Araucanians, who met and 
defeated the Spaniards in the open plain and again drove 



\ 



CHILI 255 

them back to Santiago. A lull in the conflict was brought 
about by a terrible epidemic of smallpox among the Indians, 
^vhich partly depopulated several districts and caused them 
to take precautions against the disease which they have ever 
since observed. In the next campaign, Lautaro went against 
Santiago, while CaupoHcan attempted the siege of Imperial 
and Taldivia. Lautaro laid waste the country of the Pro- 
maucians, and fortified himself on the Claro; a Spanish 
reconnoitring pariry Tvas surprised and cut to pieces, and 
Santiago was in danger. Villagran, being ill, gave the com- 
mand to his son Pedro, who was led into an ambuscade by 
Lautaro and his army slaughtered. But this was Lautaro's 
last victory; for a few days lat«r, standing upon his battle- 
ments to watch the approach of a Spanish party, he was 
killed by a chance shot; and though, in the battle which 
followed, the Araucanians fought vahantly, they were finally 
overpowered. The death of Lautaro was for three days cele- 
brated by the Spaniards ; and indeed his fall meant much to 
them. He had invariably defeated them in battle and out- 
generalled them in manoeuvres ; and at the age of only nine- 
teen had made a reputation as a warrior such as any veteran 
might envy. But he was dead ; and upon hearing the news, 
Caupolican abandoned the siege of Imperial, which had been 
just -on the point of surrender. It was the close of the year 
1556. 

In the spring of the next year, the son of the viceroy of 
Peru, Don Garcia Mendoza, appeared at Concepcion to take 
over the government. He brought with him ten ships and 
a number of soldiers. His first act was to open negotiations 
with Caupohcan with a view to making peace with the Arau- 
canians ; and upon the advice of old Colocolo, a polite answer 
was returned; but both parties had their knives up their 
sleeves. It was not until August that overt operations took 
place. Mendoza had built a fort on Monte Pinto, in a com- 
manding situation ; the Indians attacked it, led by Tucapel, 
who with his own club slew four Spaniards. After a long 
and furious struggle, the Indians were temporarily repulsed; 



256 HISTORY OF SPAXLSH AMERICA 

and soon after, being reinforced bv cavalry which came by 
the overland route, Mendoza took the offensive. A sort 
of running fight ensued, the Spaniards driving back the 
Indians, but being constantly harassed by them. Finally, 
at Melipum, a pit-ched battle took place. The slaughter was 
great, and neither party got a decisive victory ; but the In- 
dians again retreated. Mendoza hanged the captured chiefs, 
and founded a city called Canete, in memory of Valdivia; 
Caupolican attempted its capture, but was prevented by 
treachery. Mendoza now pressed southward, and discov- 
ered the island of Chiloe, and other islands of the archi- 
pelago. Returning to Imperial, one of his lieutenants suc- 
ceeded in surprising and capturing Caupolican, who was 
forthwith impaled and shot to death with arrows. But the 
son of the old warrior was elected chief in his place, with 
the -vaBant Tucapel second in command. He marched 
against Concepcion; Reynoso, the murderer of his father, 
went to meet him with five hundred men, and was utterly 
routed and cat to pieces. Another-attempt of the Spaniards 
to stop the Araucanians' advance met with a Uke fate. But 
the young Caupolican was not so successful in his siege of 
Concepcion ; and though many Homeric combats took place, 
the walls repelled all attacks. The Spaniards kept receiving 
reinforcements from Spain and Pern, while the Araucanians 
became decimated. Caupohcan fortified himseK in a {dace 
called Qmapo, but was finally overthrown in an assault, and 
his best officers, including Tucapel and old Colocolo, were 
slain. This victory confirmed the Spanish hold on the coun- 
try; forts and towns were built or rebuilt, and the first 
bishop, Marmolejo, was ordained in Santiago. He governed 
his see until 1565. VillagrMi was now made Captain-General 
of ChUi, and the period of conquest was deemed to be closed. 
The Araucanians however were as far as ever from ac- 
cepting this view of the situation. They organized another 
army, gave it to a new chief, Antiguenu, and defeated the 
Spanish force under ViUagran's son Pedro. Canete was 
taken and burned. Yillagran died, and Pedro, succeeding 



CHILI 257 

him, was besieged in Concepcion. The stronghold of Arauco 
was also attacked, and the Spaniards driven out. Angol 
resisted the Indians, and in a battle on the Biobio, Antiguenu 
was killed. The Spaniards took possession of the archipel- 
ago, which was at that time well inhabited with a tribe which 
bore physical resemblance to the Araucanians, but which 
had become peaceful owing to their long residence apart 
from the seat of Indian wars. Philip II. was now king of 
Spain, and he resolved to make a final attempt to subdue the 
indomitable Araucanians. An independent Royal Audience 
was estabKshed in Chili, and the military command was be- 
stowed on Ruiz de Gamboa. He went to Canete, where the 
new Araucanian chief, PaiHataru, was making preparations 
for a siege. The Indians were badly defeated, and a part 
of their territory laid waste; and Gamboa enslaved their 
women and children. The Royal Audience was modified 
so that Saravia, a fresh official sent out from the mexhaust- 
ible repertory of Spain, administered the government under 
three departments— that of President of the Audience, civil 
governor, and commander-in-chief. But Saravia failed as 
commander-in-chief, being defeated by PaiHataru in 1568, 
and Arauco was evacuated by the Spaniards. PaiUatarii 
then attacked Canete, but in a subsequent battle was de- 
feated by Gamboa, who had again assumed the military 
command. This engagement was foUowed by four years 
of peace, welcomed by both parties; and the only event of 
note during this period was a severe earthquake by which 
most of the Spanish cities were injured or destroyed. 

In 1574 the Araucanian chief died, and was succeeded 
by a half-breed, Alonzo Diaz, who was defeated on the 
Biobio by Bernal; but a desultory war contmued, in conse- 
quence of which Spain sent out an Examiner, who dissolved 
the Royal Audience, and put Quioga in control of the local 
government. He continued to contest the Araucanian terri- 
tory with its defenders for four years more, when he died, 
and Gamboa acceded to his title. Upon his death in 1583,' 
Alonzo de Sotomayor was sent out as governor from Spain. 



258 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

He brought six hundred soldiers with him, and defeated the 
Araucanians in several battles or skirmishes. All prisoners 
captured by the Spaniards were foully mutilated and then 
released, to inspire terror in their fellows. But the Arau- 
canians were only thereby stimulated to renewed efforts; 
and with an army consisting partly of half-breeds and rene- 
gade Spaniards, in addition to their own warriors, they gave 
battle to Sotomayor. As usual, the conflict was stubbornly 
fought; but once more the Indians were overthrown, and 
their chief, Paynenancu, executed. The Spaniards had by 
this time become so numerous in the country, that they were 
able to put almost as many men into the field as their adver- 
saries. But in 1585 a new chief arose, and collected another 
army. He did such good work against the Spaniards that, 
although a technical victory was not won, the Spaniards left 
the territory, and built forts along the border. For some 
years the Indians had the best of the many engagements 
which were fought in the debatable land. In 1586 a new 
element appeared in the person of the EngHsh admiral Sir 
Thomas Cavendish, who attacked Valparaiso with three ships, 
but without success. The incident, however, so diverted the 
Spaniards from the operations of the Indians as to enable 
the latter to win some minor advantages. The forts at Trini- 
dad and Espiritu Santo were abandoned. In 1589 a woman, 
widow of a former chief, resolved to avenge her husband's 
death, and assumed the leadership of the Puelche tribe. She 
carried on a galling guerilla warfare, and was careful to kill 
every Spanish prisoner who fell into her hands. Janequeo 
was the name of this heroine, the Boadicea of Chili. An 
army was sent after her into the mountains, but was beaten 
back. She attacked the fortress of Puchanqui, defeated part 
of the garrison, and killed their commander. Making a 
stronghold among the. mountains near Villarica, she terror- 
ized the inhabitants of that settlement. Finally a powerful 
Spanish force was dispatched to oust her from her fastnesses 
at any cost; and after inflicting great losses upon her ene- 
mies, the valiant lady was compelled to withdraw into still 



CHILI 259 

remoter regions. But she enjoyed the satisfaction of having 
amply avenged her husband; and meanwhile there were 
other chiefs to carry on the good work. 

Under Quintuguenu the Araucanians encountered an 
army of a thousand Spaniards and several thousand aux- 
iliaries, and a great battle ensued for the possession of the 
Araucanian stronghold of Mariguenu, among the mountains. 
The greater part of the auxiliaries were slain, and many 
Spaniards were destroyed; but Quintuguenu was finall}^ 
killed, and Mariguenu fell into the hands of the enemy, who 
celebrated the event by general rejoicings all over the coun- 
try. But it was still too soon to look upon the war, which 
had already lasted as long as the average life of a man, as 
being over. In truth, the Araucanians were as far from 
being conquered as they had been thirty or forty years 
before. No offer of peace made to them was even seriously 
considered; they. knew that Spanish promises are always 
broken, and they would not submit to slavery under any 
disguise. It was in vain that the Spaniards entered Arau- 
canian territory, and drove the Indians from one place to 
another ; they kept returning like the tide, and in every con- 
flict a greater or less number of Spaniards fell; so that at 
length the Spanish captain retreated to Santiago, there to 
await further reinforcements from Peru. The reinforce- 
ments were tardy ; and Sotomayor decided to go after them 
in person ; but he never returned. Spain superseded him by 
Don Martin de Loyola, who had made a warlike reputation 
in Peru, and fancied he would find no difficulty in disposing 
of the Araucanians. He assumed his office in 1593; but it 
was not long before he discovered that the work before him 
was very different from that at the north. Paillamachu, 
the Araucanian chief, was an old and wise man, with the 
experience of all his predecessors to guide him. He sent 
two emissaries to Loyola, ostensibly to compliment him, but 
really to spy out his condition and power. Loyola adopted 
the well-worn policy of displaying his resources to the best 
advantage, in order to ''impress" the barbarian; but the 
— 12 



^60 ZI-T JV :J 5PAXI5H AMERICA 

]att»> sil'aitly d-^~ _i; — n cond^osicQS. and wait away as 
reac^ote as ever Ti ^r next year Loyola bailt several forts 
Ml ^le otfaer sLi. .; :_= Biobio, iaduding caie named Jesos, 
on a defensible portion oa the bank of that river. Pailla- 
machn ordered his Keatenant Loncothegna to take it; bat 
he was ViTled afts' nearly accomplishing his object, and 
bamfng part of the fort. PaiUamachn devoted himself 
thi»eaffc^ to making incursions into the country and gath- 
ering forage ; bat avmded pitched battles. At length, hi^ v- 
in^ in iieqnate army, he descended npon the Spanish 
-" z-_ ' erthrew one <w two of them, and menaced 

I_It::^_ ; . :n after he attacked Loyola himself and slew 
h "" -^r.'- lis army. Immediately all the Araaoanian prev- 
ia - - ~t: - „ - ~ ■ -'aer with several adjoining tribes ; 

C-n^rp:i;n ^_n_ 1_ -- ~-Te homed, the other towns were 

besieged, and PaiUamachn finally got back across the Biobio 
—.-'l immense booty. This nearly brcoght the Spaniards to 
i.zm..:. and many were in favor of giving np the contest. 
A ne'v governor. Qoinones. was sent south from Pern, but 
— - v^^ : r--: ' L repairing the damage, and incurred the 
j-:.1t:- r:i:_::f :; :_e Arancanians by killing and quartering 
his Tr-iin^rs. Valdivia was attacked and destroyed, and its 
::i'_ ": massacred; the shipping in the harbor was at- 

- :jt i-^i the booty included rwo million dollars' worth 
: : : : : erty, four hundred prisoners, arms and cannon. The 
::.'.:z : r Spain had never been more dark. 

llri- ~^ile the English and Dutch ravaged the coasts of 
Peru a- 1 1 _: : ind plundered the islands of the archipel- 
i^:: ?izi _ : leeiei Qoinones, but had no better suc- 
cess. 3.Li:Li- ~i£ followed by Alonzo de Rivera, who once 
more fortified the Biobio, but could not recover the demol- 
ished cities. ViQarica and Imperial fell into the hands of 
the Araucanians, and Osomo met with a Like fate. This 
ended the Araucanian wars for a time; no attempt was 
made to rebuild the forts and cities. Paillamachu died in 
1603. and was succeeded by Huenecura. Meanwhile a good 
deal of intern arrving livent on between the Indians and the 



CHILI 261 

Spaniards. Ramon was restored to office, and collected a 
Spanish force of no less than three thousand men, besides 
auxiliaries. With this force Ramon ventured once more 
into Araucanian territory and founded another fort and 
left in it a garrison of three hundred men. Half of thig 
number was surprised by Huenecura and demolished, their 
leader being among the killed. The fort was besieged, and 
the garrison fled. The campaign ended in the destruction of 
Ramon's army. In 1608, the new king of Spain, Philip III., 
established an army of two thousand men on the frontiers, 
and in the next year reconstituted the Royal Audience of 
Chili. Ramon died in 1610, after having won a hard-earned 
success over the Araucanians in the marshes of Lumaco. 
Huenecura also died of wounds, and was succeeded by Ail- 
lavilu. But in 1612 a new element was introduced into the 
imbroglio by the advent of a Jesuit priest, Luis de Valdivia, 
who was consumed with an ambition to convert the Indians. 
He was placed by the king at the head of the government, 
but he appointed Rivera his civil governor, and himself im- 
mediately entered into negotiations with a view to establish- 
ing a treaty of peace with the Araucanians. The terms of 
the treaty were that the Biobio should be the boundary be- 
tween the two nations, neither being allowed to pass it with 
an army ; that all deserters should be returned on both sides, 
and that Christian missionaries should be permitted to preach 
the gospel to the Araucanians. The latter stipulated that the 
forts of Arauco and Paicavi should first be abandoned, to 
which the Spaniards agreed. But at this interesthig stage 
the negotiations were interrupted by a domestic incident; 
the Araucanian chief, Ancanamon, had married a Spanish 
woman; and she seized an opportunity to escape to the 
Spaniards. He demanded her return, which being refused, 
he broke off negotiations, and slaughtered a party of priests 
and others who had been sent to treat concerning the mat- 
ter. Another term of raids and reprisals ensued, with no 
conclusive results to either party. Spanish governors and 
Araucanian chiefs succeeded one another, year after year; 



262 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

the operations now favored one side, now the other, but the 
Spaniards on the whole lost more than did the Indians. It 
was not until 1640, about a hundred years since the out- 
break of the war, that anything approaching a settlement 
with the Araucanians was made; and the initiative came 
from the Spaniards. At the village of Quillin the Spanish 
governor, the Marquis of Baides, met the Araucanian chief 
Lincopichion, both being attended by a great retinue. The 
treaty was ratified by speeches, and the sacrifice of a llama. 
The Spaniards and Araucanians were mutually to refrain 
from incursions, and the Araucanians were not to permit 
the troops of other foreign powers to land on their coasts, or 
to furnish supplies to the enemies of Spain. This clause 
was inserted in view of the recent attempts of the Dutch 
to effect a lodgment in Chili. This compact was kept by 
the Indians, in spite of temptations to break it, for ten or a 
dozen years, when hostilities broke out afresh owing to bad 
faith on the side of Spain. The Spanish were overwhelm- 
ingly defeated in 1655, and during ten years the power of 
Spain in lower Chili was broken. In 1665 the Spaniards 
were glad to make another treaty with the Indians, which 
was kept for half a century. The invaders, from the first, 
had gained much more by their treaties than by their 
arms. 

And what was the state of Chili after a Spanish regime 
of a hundred and fifty years? It was, by dower of nature, 
one of the richest provinces of the New World ; but the ad- 
ministration of it by its invaders had left it little better than 
a wilderness. The Spanish population consisted of the Cre- 
oles (persons born in Chili of Spanish parents, or of parents 
of Spanish descent), and the Spaniards sent to fill the colo- 
nial offices from Spain. The former were regarded by the 
latter as an inferior class, and were in all ways looked down 
upon, insulted, slighted, and oppressed. No offices were per- 
mitted to them, save in very exceptional instances, and they 
were allowed no voice in determining the laws by which 
they were ruled. The next class were the mongrels, or half- 



CHILI 263 

breeds, spawn of the inferior Indian tribes with the Span- 
iards. They performed menial offices, and were practically 
slaves, concerning whose rights and Uves no one took any 
interest; they had not spirit enough to revolt, nor brains 
enough to better their condition. Finally there were the 
imported negroes, of whom the less said the better, and 
the native Indian's, who were addicted to drink, and with the 
exception of the Araucanians were steadily deteriorating. 
Such were the inhabitants of Chili. The country was a 
waste, dotted here and there with miserable towns, most 
of which were but villages; Santiago itself had but eight 
thousand inhabitants of all kinds, and the houses were little 
better than straw- thatched huts. Agriculture was limited 
to raising such products as the colony needed for its subsist- 
ence; all the energy of the rulers was devoted to extracting 
the precious metals from the mines ; part of this product was 
shipped to Spain, to enable the kings of that country to carry 
on their wars in Europe, and the rest was looted by the 
governors and their lieutenants. In short, Spain was using 
Chili as she had used all her colonies, and as she continued 
to use them down to contemporary times. Concerning such 
an administration there can be no historical memoranda 
worthy of being related ; it was a story of civil misery and 
political stagnation. It has been said that that country is 
happy whose annals are dull reading; the same saying holds 
of colonies like Chili, which exist in a monotony of unre- 
lieved tyranny on one side and soulless submission on the 
other. Despotism in politics and religious bigotry had 
quenched whatever had once been honorable in the Span- 
ish character, and the nation had become a race whose main 
source of revenue was robbery, and its leading aim the en- 
slaving of other peoples. But, as might be expected, such 
a policy was suicidal; and England and Holland gave to 
Spain the first staggering blows which were to be followed 
by reverses which ended in making her the byword and 
scorn of the world. 

The eighteenth century opened with the wars of the Span- 



264 HISTORY OF SPANISH .AMERICA 

ish Succession. Charles II., last of the Austrian dynasty, 
died in 1700, and there was no legitimate successor to the 
crown. Dispute thereupon arose between Austria and France 
as to which should furnish the next king, and the war that 
followed was exhausting and savage. It ended in the ele- 
vation of a grandson of Louis Quatorze to the unenviable 
dignity, with the title of Philip V. But his reign brought 
one good result for Chili, and the Spanish American colo- 
nies generally, in that it opened them to French trade, and 
thereby greatly increased the legitimate sources of revenue. 
Many French settlers also came to the new countries, and 
Chili was the goal of a number of colonists from Aragon 
and the Basque provinces, who became an important and 
useful part of the population. In 1723, however, a new war 
with the Araucanians broke out, the cause being the intol- 
erable conduct of an organization of Spanish freebooters 
styled the Captains of the Friends, who made use of their 
ostensible office of guarding the missionaries, to tyrannize 
over the Indians. The Araucanian chief Vilumilla packed 
all missionaries out of the country, and captured Fort Tuca- 
pel and Fort Arauco; he offered battle to the Spanish gen- 
eral Aponte, who commanded an army of five thousand men ; 
but the latter declined the contest, and retired. The Cap- 
tains of the Friends were abolished, and the Araucanians, 
having gained what they demanded, assented to another 
treaty of peace. It was more than forty years before the 
Spaniards ventured to break this peace again. 

During the first fifteen years of this period Chili continued 
under the rule of Aponte, and under him, and his successor 
Manso, several new cities were founded. These cities served 
to group the people scattered through the province in urban 
societies, thus rendering the business of taxation easier. The 
measure consequently rendered Chili a desirable place to rule 
over, and the captain-generalship of Chili became the pre- 
liminary to the still more lucrative office of viceroy of Peru. 
In 1747 a university was established in Santiago, which 
somewhat impaired the hitherto exclusive educational pow- 



CHILI 265 

ers of the Jesuits. A mint was instituted in 17A9, and a 
currency of gold and silver was coined. Two years later 
another earthquake destroyed Concepcion, and the town, 
when rebuilt, found a site six miles further from the coast! 
Meanwhile robbery was rife throughout the country, and 
neither life nor property was safe. Vigilance committees 
were organized, and a militia was created to defend the 
coasts against pirates. But at length Captain-General Gon- 
zaga undertook to gather the Araucanians into cities with 
disastrous results. The Indians resisted and finally raised 
an army and defeated the Spanish force under Gouzaga. In 
] 773, after the war had cost Spain a million and a half of 
dollars, peace was made with the Araucanians upon the con- 
dition that henceforth the Araucanians should be permitted 
to maintain a minister of affairs at Santiago, after the man- 
ner of other foreign nations. In other words, the independ- 
ence of the tribe was acknowledged. 

Charles III. abohshed some of the restrictions which had 
hmdered the prosperity of the colony; but in 1780 an attempt 
was made by two Frenchmen residing in Santiago to stir up 
a rebellion and make Chili an independent State. It was too 
soon for such a step, however, and the Frenchmen were ar- 
rested; but the seed they sowed was not lost. In 1788 Don 
Ambrosio O'Higgins, a man of Irish blood, was appointed 
captain-general by Spain; with whose accession we may 
bring this part of the annals of Chili to a close. 

^ The Spaniards were at that time well settled north of t!ie 
Biobio. Their territory was divided into thirteen provinces. 
The captain-general resided in Santiago and was directly 
responsible to the king of Spain, save in the event of war, 
when he might be directed by the Peruvian viceroy. In 
addition to this territory the Spaniards held the fortress of 
Valdivia, the archipelago of Chiloe, and the island of Juan 
Fernandez, off the coast. There were four subordinate gov- 
ernors under the captain-general, exercising their functions 
over Chiloe, Valparaiso, Valdivia and Juan Fernandez. 
There were three chief Tribunals, of Audience, Finance and 



26G HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Commerce, presided over by jiitlges with high salaries. The 
provinces were governed by corregidors appointed by the 
eapt-aiu-general ; their pay was in fees, leading to many 
abuses. The inhabitants were divided into upward of fifteen 
thousand militia troops in Santiago and Concepcion, and in 
addition there was a force of about two thousand regulars. 
Negro slavery existed, but never throve abundantly; the. 
peasantry were a healthy and robust race, and had consider- 
able comparative freedom. Their dress and language was 
largely influenced by the Araucanians. Wealthy citizens 
were fond of display, and imitated European fashions. The 
country was divided into the dioceses of Santiago and Con- 
cepcion, and was overrun with monks of various orders; but 
in 1767 an order to expel the Jesuits was promulgated; they 
possessed at that time immense wealth, and were powerful 
political intriguers. They were evicted from all their hold- 
ings, and theu- property was confiscated. 

The total population of Chili at the end of the century 
was about half a million, mostly Spanish or Spanish-Indian, 
but containing also many French. English and Italians. 
There was little internal commerce ; outside commerce was 
beginning to assimie some importance, and ships were build- 
ing for that purpose. During the century and a half since 
Almagro invaded Chili, up to the accession of O'Higgins, 
there had been sixty-one captains-general and provisional 
governors of the country, according to the following list: 

Pedro de Valdivia, Pedro de Yiscarra, 

Francisco de-Tillagran, Francisco de Quinones, 

Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, Alonzo Garcia Eamon, 

Roderigo de Quiroga, Alonzo de Rivera, 

YUlagran (2d time)j Ramon {'2d time), 

Quiroga (3d time), Luis Merlo de la Fuente, 

Martin Ruiz de C^amboa, Juan de Xara Quemada, 

Melchor Bravo de Saravia, Rivera (2d time), 

Quiroga (3d time), Fernando Talaveranno^ 

Gamboa (2d time), Lopez LTUoa y Lemus, 

Alonzo de Sotomayor, Cristovel de la Cerda, 

Martin Onez de Loyola, Pedro Sorez de Ulioa, 



CHILT 



267 



Francisco de Alva y N'oruena, 
Luis Fernandez de Cordova y 

Arce, 
Francisco Laso de la Vega, 
Francisco de Zuniga, 
Martin de Muxica, 
Alonzo de Cordova y Figueroa, 
Antonio de Acuna y Cabrera, 
Pedro Portal e Casanate, 
-Diego Gonzales Montero, 
Angel de Pereda, 
Francisco de Meneses, 
Marquis de Navamorquende, 
Montero (2d time), 
Juan de Henriquez, 
Jose de Garro, 
Tomas Martin de Poveda, 
Francisco Ibanez de Peralta, 



Juan Andrez de TJstariz, 
Don Jose de Santiago Concha. 
Gabriel Cano de Aponte, 
Francisco Sanchez de la Bar 

reda, 
Manuel de Salamanca, 
Jose de Manso, 
Francisco de Obando, 
Domingo Ortez de Rosas, 
Manuel Amat y Junient, 
Felix de Berroeta, 
Antonio Guill y Gonzaga, 
Juan de Balmaseda, 
Javier de Morales, 
Agustin de Jauregui, 
Tomas Alvarez de Acevedo- 
Ambrosio de Benavides, 
Acevedo (2d time). 



268 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



V 

MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 

WE will now take a summary view of the other Span- 
ish provinces in America before the Revolution 
which, in the beginning of this century, finally 
resulted in freeing all save Cuba and Porto Rico from Span- 
ish rule. After the Conquest, there were nine distinct gov- 
ernments in the Isthmus and in South America ; each was 
independent of the others, though all were based upon similar 
principles. Of these nine, four were viceroyalties — Mexico, 
Peru, La Plata, and New Granada. The remaining five 
were captain -generalships ; they were Yucatan, Guatemala, 
Chili, Venezuela, and Cuba. It will be remembered that 
New Granada embraced the territory now called the State 
of Colombia, ha%ang expanded from the original region round 
about the highlands of Bogota. From 1564 to 1718 New 
Granada was ruled by colonial presidents; in 1710 the pres- 
ent Ecuador (then called Quito) was annexed to it; but this 
union was dissolved twelve years later. The viceroj^alty of 
Peru was the real kingdom of Spain in the West. Its con- 
quest led to those of Chili, Charcas (now called Bolivia), and 
Quito, or Ecuador; and the successive viceroys, after Pizarro, 
controlled these countries through their Audiences, and 
presidents or captains-general. After a time, there were 
added to the Peruvian viceroyalties the colonies of New 
Granada, Panama and Paraguay, the latter including all 
the Platine region; so that in the seventeenth and in the 
beginning of the eighteenth centuries, Peru's government 
controlled in effect the whole of the Isthmus and of South 
A^nerica; the several Audience districts being Lima, the 
capital of Peru, Charcas, Buenos Ayres, Santiago de Chili, 
Quito, Bogota, and Panama. The viceroy was appointed 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 269 

directly by the Spanish crown; he was president of the "^ 
Audience at Lima, was supreme in civil and military affairs, 
and received a salary of thirty thousand ducats, which, how- 
ever, represented but a small part of the money which he 
derived, in ways more or lesi? illegitimate, from his position. 
Not since the time of the great kings of Asia in early historic 
eras has there been any instance of rulers so absolute and 
uncontrolled, and who so abused for their own ends the 
privileges granted them, as the viceroys of Peru. All the 
luxury that earth could give, they had ; and the conduct of 
each one of them deserved nothing less than the gallows. 
It would be hardly possible to exaggerate the magnificence, 
the depravity and the corruption of their rule; but the story 
is not worth telling, for the moral of one reign is the moral 
of all— the moral of all human tyranny, rapacitj'- and cruelty. 
In 1718 New Granada was completely separated from Peru; si 
the viceroyalty of La Plata reduced Peru to Peru properly ^ 
so called. Chili, and Quito; but the last two were controlled 
by Peru only in matters military, and in the treasury depart- 
ment. This state of things continued until the Revolution. 

Arbitrary though the viceroys were to all practical intents 
and purposes, they were under certain nominal restrictions. 
The Royal Audiences were nominated by the Crown, and 
were supposed to be independent ; the municipalities and the 
corporations or guilds had certain prescriptive privileges. 
But as the aim of all alike was to fill their pockets, it can 
easily be understood that compromises were made between 
them by which all were satisfied at the expense of the people, 
who were without any available rights whatever. The clergy 
formed the only real rivals to the political estate ; they were 
numerous and rich, and their influence over a superstitious 
laity was naturally great; but when the Jesuits were ex- 
pelled, this influence was for the most part destroyed. The 
colonial system of Spain was a type of a vicious system of 
government, especially adapted to protect abuses and oppres- 
sions. The plight of the white inhabitants was bad enough ; 
but it was freedom and security compared with that of the 



270 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Indians, who were beasts of burden, and were hardly per- 
mitted to own the rags that covered them. "Whether they 
were called slaves, or were said to be emancipated, made no 
perceptible difference in their condition; they were taxed 
down to their last shred of property, and they could be forced 
to work from morning till night all the year round at the 
pleasure of their lords. They were suffered neither to buy 
nor to sell; and indeed the wrongs they were obliged to en- 
dure, attested by Spanish chroniclers themselves, appear 
hardly credible, though the like have never ceased to exist 
wherever Spain had power to inflict them. On all sides 
Spaniards in America rose to affluence with or without sal- 
aries; and priests rivalled laymen in robbery and inhuman- 
ity. During many generations Spain retained the whole 
trade of the colonies, and safe-guarded her monopoly with 
severe penalties. N"o books were allowed to be imported 
except books of Roman Catholic devotion. The sciences 
were tabooed; and American-born Spaniards were not per- 
mitted to visit Europe, lest they should learn there things 
which were forbidden at home. At home must they stay, 
where the priests filled their minds with bigotry and the 
terrors of superstition. All offices, as we have already re- 
marked, were reserved for persons born in Spain, and sent 
out thence to fill them. Thus was established a class of men 
distinct in all ways from the native population, and whose 
interests were hostile to theirs. It was a privileged cast«, 
who came out only to extort money, and whose roots were 
in the mother country. At best, the people were only allowed 
certain necessary rights in return for service and obedience. 
Their condition was hardly to be distinguished from what 
we should consider slavery. They were robbed, but to this 
robbery was given the name of government requisitions. 
By this means, an enormous amount of wealth was poured 
into Spain; but instead of being prudently invested there, 
it was squandered in wars and frivolity, under the belief 
that the resources of the colonies were inexhaustible. For 
a Creole to object to any phase of the despotism under which 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 2U 

he groaned was to sentence himself to death. Among the 
widespread corruption of the priests there were occasional 
exceptions — men who desired the good of the people, and 
even attempted something toward their relief; but their 
efforts were sporadic and ineffective; and as a rule the 
tyranny of ecclesiasticism was as rigorous as that of the 
state. The assumption was that America ' was the gift of 
the Holy See to Spain, and that the Spanish kings ruled 
by right divine. Whoever demanded justice in contradiction 
of the royal authority was guilty, ipso facto, of treason and 
heresy. 

But the endurance even of Spanish American Creoles is 
limited, wide though the limits be. After more than two 
hundred years, they revolted; but it may be doubted whether 
they would have nerved themselves to the act, had not the 
state of Europe, disorganized by the whirlwind campaigns 
of Wapoleon, almost made the act compulsory. Moreover, 
the way had been shown, and the hint given, many years 
before, by the struggle against oppression of the descendant 
of the line of the ruling Incas themselves — of him who is 
styled in history Tupac Amaru. His story and his fate are 
worth recording. 

The ancestry of the man was noble. It takes us back 
to the region of legend and mystery. The Inca tribe, as we 
have seen, was the leading tribe of the Peruvians, and its 
chief family furnished the rulers of the country. Of the 
origin of the Peruvians themselves, before their advent to 
South America, nothing is known, and way is thus afforded 
for all manner of poetical and extravagant hypotheses. 
Among these, the most striking is that which identifies 
them with wandering Israelites who crossed the Pacific 
from Armenia. In support of this notion, many curious 
similarities are pointed out in the customs and religious rites 
of the two peoples. "Like the Jews," say Rivero and 
Tschudi, in their "Peruvian Antiquities," "these Indians 
offer their first fruits ; they keep their new moons, and the 
feast of expiation at the end of September or the beginning 



27-^ HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

of October; they divide the year into four secisons, corre- 
sponding with the Jewish festivals. The brother of a de- 
ceased husband receives his widow into his house as a guest, 
and after a suitable time regards her as his lawful consort. 
There is also much analogy in the ceremonies of purification, 
the use of the bath, the ointment of bear's grease, fasting, 
and the manner of prayer. The Indians likewise abstain 
from the blood of animals, as also from fish without scales ; 
they regard certain quadrupeds as unclean, and also certain 
birds and reptiles ; and they are accustomed to offer as holo- 
causts the firstlings of the flock. Some allow marriage only 
with members of their own tribe or lineage. But what most 
fortifies opinion as to the Hebrew origin of the American 
tribes is a species of Ark, seemingly like that of the Old 
Testament. This the Indians take with them to war. It is 
never permitted to touch the ground, but rests upon stones 
or pieces of wood ; and it is deemed sacrilege and unlawful 
to open it or look into it. The priests scrupulously guard 
the sanctuary, and the high-priest carries on his breast a 
white shell adorned with precious stones, which recalls the 
urim of the Jewish high-priest, of whom we are also re- 
minded by a band of white plumes on the forehead." Sev- 
eral philological reasons are also adduced in support of this 
theory ; but after listening to all the testimony, we are forced 
to the conclusion that there is more poetry and ingenuity in 
its advocates than scientific conscience. It is easy to detect 
parallels and simiHtudes, and to group them together until 
they appear formidable ; but nothing is said of the innumer- 
able dissimilarities, which render the enterprise of identify- 
ing the two races practically hopeless. Montesinos, the Span- 
iard, claims to have found the Mines of King Solomon in the 
New World, and discovers traditions of the Deluge among 
the Peruvians. Other writers have tried to show that the 
first Inca, Manco Capac, and the Mexican deity, Quetzalcoatl, 
were Buddhist priests, traveUing as missionaries. And a 
contemporary investigator professes to have found in Cen- 
tral America the site of the Garden of Eden, and traces 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 373 

X the property of Adam and Eve after their expulsion 

thence. 

Be all that as it may, there is no question that the ruling 
Incas were a remarkable and ancient race, and that their 
destiny was a high one. One of their blood, called Garci- 
iasso de la Vega, describes in gorgeous language the ap- 
purtenances of the royal domain. "In their gardens and 
orchards," he says, "were planted all the fine and beautiful 
trees and sweet-smelling plants of the kingdom, which mod- 
els they imitated most perfectly in gold and silver, with their 
leaves, flowers and fruits ; some seemed about to bud, others 
were half-matured, others again entire and perfect. They 
also made counterfeit resemblances of various species of 
corn, with leaves, ear and stem, and with roots and flowers; 
the fibres which are found in the ear and stem were of gold, 
and the rest silver, soldered together. The same difference 
was made in other plants, so that the flower or whatever 
other part inclined to yellow was imitated in gold, the rest 
in silver. There were also to be seen animals, large and, 
small, cast in gold and silver, such as rabbits, lizards, 
snakes, butterflies, foxes, and mountain-cats; also birds of 
all kinds, some perched in trees as if singing, others flying 
to and &o and sucking honey from the flowers. There were 
also deer, lions, tigers, and all other creatures which the 
country produced, each in its proper place, true to nature 
as the reality. In many houses were baths with large jars 
of silver and gold, from which water was poured; and 
where there were natural hot baths there were also recep- 
tacles of great splendor and richness. Among other dis- 
plays of wealth, were collections of billets of wood imitated 
in gold and silver, as if deposited to be used in the service 
of the house." 

This must suffice for Senor Garcilasso, who, if he be not 
telling sober facts, has a fine tropical imagination ; and the 
gold woodpile and kindlings cap a fine climax. The whole 
conception reminds one of the old myths of Midas, who went 
about turning all his belongings into gold, until at last he 



274: HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

happened to lay his gold-engeudermg hands on his own 
favorite daughter, who straightway l^ecame a charming 
golden image, true to life, but quite lifeless nevertheless. 
As for the golden and silver vegetables and animals of the 
Incas, we must take Garcilasso's word for them; for of 
course the Spaniards did not suffer them long to retain such 
fantastic and unpractical shapes, but threw them into the 
melting pot forthwith, and brought them out in the shape of 
bars suitable for the mint. In fact, no one except Solomon 
and the Incas ever seems to have looked upon the precious 
metals as good for anything but coining ; and this may serve 
as an additional argument, if one more be needed, to confirm 
us in oiu: belief that the Jews and the Incas are one. 

The line of the historical Incas, beginning with Manco 
Capac, nmnbers fourteen, down to and including the illegit- 
imate Atahualpa, murdered by Pizarro. Manco Capac II. 
was a creature of the Spaniards, somewhat after the fashion 
of the present rajahs and maharajahs of British India. He 
was succeeded by his three sons, the last of whom, Tupac 
Amaru, was beheaded in Cuzco in 1571 by order of Toledo, 
the fifth Spanish viceroy. Tupac Amaru the younger, of 
whose adventures we are now to tell, was the fifth in descent 
from this beheaded prince, and upon him was bestowed the 
respectable Spanish name of Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui. 
He got a college education at Cuzco, learned the Spanish 
language, and generally approved himself a youth of parts 
and inteUigence. But he was not prevented by his change 
of name from remembering what blood flowed in his veins, 
or from secretly harboring thoughts of rebeUion against the 
task-masters who were grinding down his countrymen. He 
had some property, and a sufficient income, permitted him 
by Spain in consideration of the fact that the whole of Peru 
rightly belonged to him. But when he pleaded the cause of 
his compatriots before the priests and officers, they turned a 
deaf ear to him, or intimated that he was setting out upon 
a road, the end of which was apt to lead to the scaffold. 

When he was twenty years of age, he succeeded to the 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 275 

chieftainship of his tribe in the mountain province of Tun- 
gasuca ; in that comparative soHtude the thoughts of revo- 
lution could be cherished undisturbed. And to him, as to 
so many other eminent red men, both north and south of the 
equator, came the idea of uniting all the tribes in one great 
effort for freedom. It is singular that this idea should have 
come to several Indians, at long separated intervals of place 
and time, though all alike must have known that there was 
no hope of uniting Indians, by any bond which would insure 
permanent co-operation ; the sense of race homogeneity being 
a product of a more advanced civilization than that to which 
they had attained. In New England the league of King 
Philip was but of brief continuance, and the same may be 
isaid of that of Pontiac; but the Indian tribes involved in 
those rebellions were far better and more determined fighters 
than were the Peruvians to whom Tupac Amaru appealed. 
The latter, meanwhile, did whatever good he personally 
■sould; out of his means he gave help to many, and proved 
by practical deeds of beneficence that the wrongs and suf- 
ferings of others were to him as his own. Personally he 
was a man of serious and impressive deportment, with a 
sense of the moral dignity of his position, and of his moral 
responsibilities. 

Arguments and entreaties proving barren of result, 
Amaru resolved to act; and he began his campaign by 
arresting the governor of Tinta, a place near Lima, who 
had made himself especially odious by his cruelty and tyr- 
anny. This man was taken to Tungusaca and there put 
to death; and the Indians of the neighborhood, learning of 
this execution, and hoping that the time was come for free- 
dom, gathered round the son of the Incas and formed them- 
selves into a sort of army.. As Amaru advanced from his 
mountain home, this army grew, and by the time he reached 
Cuzco he had followers enough to frighten the Spaniards of 
that town into surrender. The Spanish factories were filled 
with Indian workmen ; these he liberated, and abolished the 
"mita," or system of forced labor. It seemed for a while 



276 HISTORY OF SPA>^SH AAIEEICA 

as if evervthiag was coming his way ; and the Spanish offi- 
cials, while making their preparations to oppose him, sent 
emissaries with smooth words to open negotiations and throw 
him off his guard. He received these persons courteously, 
stated his wishes and intentions, and issued proclamations 
(in the production of which barbarous revolutionists or rebels 
have always been especially fertile), describing the wrongs 
under which the Indians -suffered, and caUing upon them to 
join him for emancipation. The whole country was stirred, 
and the outlook for Spain began to be more serious than the 
Spaniards had at first anticipated. The viceroy was obliged 
to consider his position. Of course the rebels greatly out- 
numbered the Spaniards ; but Amaru had betrayed no bloody 
designs ; his utterances showed that he hoped to settle every- 
thing by peaceful means. Therefore the Spaniards inferred 
that he had no heart for battle; and the viceroy, hoping to 
intimidate him, sent him a fierce defiance, refusing to make 
any terms with him, and only vouchsafing the remark that 
if he surrendered without further delay, some of the refine- 
ments of torture awaiting him might be mitigated. Amaru 
was thus placed in a position where he had Uttle to lose and 
everything to gain by fighting; and his rabble now num- 
bered some two hundred thousand men. They were met 
by a small but well-drilled Spanish force, and in the battle 
which ensued there was never any doubt as to which party 
would win. The Indians were utterly defeated, and Tupac 
Amaru and his family were taken prisoners. 

All was now ready for one of those inhimian exhibitions 
which the Spaniards regard as sport. The tiger had corralled 
the sheep, and would have his fun with them. The Spanish 
inhabitants assembled en fete. They surrounded the arena 
in which the exhibition was to take place. People less ad- 
vanced in the arts of inhumanity than Spaniards are apt to 
imagine that a man has but one life, and can die but once; 
but the viceroy knew better. Amaru's family consisted of 
his wife, his two sons, and his uncle. Amaru loved them 
all as he loved himself, and therefore the tormentors ar- 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 277 

ranged that he should look on at their torture, before being 
personally dealt with. First the old uncle was led out. 
Pincers were applied to his tongue, which was slowly drawn 
out by the roots, amid the laughter and plaudits of the as- 
sembly. An iron collar, fitted with a screw, was then put 
round the victim's neck, the screw was revolved, and he 
was firmly strangled to death. The corpse having been 
removed, there was a pause; and then the father saw his 
elder son brought into the circle. The tortures to which 
this young man was subjected were more prolonged, and 
of a more exquisite nature, than the simple methods which 
had sufficed for the uncle; the whole performance being 
conducted on the principle of artistic climax, so that the 
spectators, and especiallj^ the star spectator, Amaru him- 
self, should not be sensible of any monotony or satiety in 
it. The son lasted a good while, for he was a lusty youth 
of twenty; but he was fain to succumb at last, and the re- 
mains were removed, to make room for the third subject 
of experiment — Amaru's wife. Here was the honorable 
woman whom Amaru loved, and who loved him; who had 
borne him two sons, and who was as blameless and innocent 
as a woman can be ; she was brought forth into the glare of 
the arena, the centre of thousands of gloating eyes, the butt 
of thousands of jeering cries ; the centre, too, of that awful 
gaze bent upon her by her husband, who would have given 
his life to save her from any pain, but who must sit helpless 
there and witness her agony, long drawn out, and see her 
subjected to shameful insults, more terrible for her to endure 
than death ; and at last must behold her die, a mangled and 
dishonored spectacle, handled and flouted by brutal creat- 
ures, the mere touch of whose coarse hands was an outrage 
to such as she. Well, she was dead; and the viceroy, smil- 
ing archly at the knights and ladies of his retinue, observed 
that the Inca had by this time probably seen as much as he 
was capable of appreciating, and that the next scene of the 
exhibition would consequently be the disciplining of Amaru 
himself. The second son, the little ten-year-old boy, who 



278 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

had stood beside his father all this while, his fresh young 
eyes blasted by the hellish transactions, should survive to 
learn how Spain admonished those who ventured to dispute 
her power. 

And Tupac Amaru, last of the Incas, was led forth, while 
a movement of interest and animation stirred the great audi- 
ence. Men with knives surrounded him, and his body was 
stabbed and whittled until from head to foot it was a bloody 
mass, helplessly writhing, yet with life- enough left in it to 
feel the final torture. Four horses were led in, with harness 
attached to them ; the ends of four thongs were made fast to 
the arms and legs of the hideous figure, and a man at each 
horse's head led them in four diverse directions. There was 
a strain, a jerk, then a fierce pull — for the joints and sinews 
of a man are tough and not to be rent apart readily ; but the 
drivers encourage the animals, there is a final deadly tug, 
and the still living body flies asunder, and the gory frag- 
ments are dragged in the dust to the four quarters of the 
compass. What a thousand-throated roar of gratulation 
and triumph goes up : mingling the hoarse shouts of men, 
and the shrill calls of Spanish ladies ! But higher than all 
rises to Heaven a shriek, piercing and quivering, of childish 
horror and anguish ; a shriek never to be forgotten by those 
who heard it. The heart of a little child was broken. Even 
the smile that curved the bearded lips of the viceroy wore 
a ghastly aspect for a moment. The show was over. The 
brilliant southern sun shone down, pure and peaceful; and 
no earthquake swallowed up the great throng in sudden de- 
struction. Men do evil in the world, and God in His Provi- 
dence permits it. Hell has its season, and its uses too ; out 
of its foulness spring the immortal flowers of human liberty 
and mutual love. Such a death as that of Tupac Amaru 
wakens sluggards, and arms the indolent; it brings faith 
to life, and steels the resolution of well-doing. The deed 
of May, 1781, was the foundation on which was built the 
liberation of Spanish America. ' ' But woe to them by whom 
the ofl:ences come!" 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 279 

Eighty thousand Indians of the Inca tribe, n^en, women 
and children, were slaughtered at this time; the object being 
to finally extirpate the race. The little son, condemned to 
penal servitude for life, was carried to Spain ; and his fate 
is not known ; though there is a tradition that after many 
years he returned to Peru, and died, a monk, in some con- 
vent in Lima. But at all times during his life, and when 
he closed his eyes to die, he saw pictured that scene in the 
blood-stained square of Cuzco; the straining horses suddenly 
breaking free, and dragging hither and thither across the 
sunlit sand the fragments of- what had been his father. He" 
had been an innocent child, who did no wrong to any mor- 
tal ; but that sight was to remain with him to the end. Many 
deeds not less eminent for cruelty were done by Spain in 
America, before and afterward; but something in the cir- 
cumstances of this act has preserved it distinct and vivid in 
the eye of history. Soon after a secret club was formed in 
Lima, whose members included not a few persons of Span- 
ish blood ; its object was to secure the rights for which Amaru 
died. Its influence slowly and surely spread, and its final 
fruit was the Revolution. But the actual murderers went 
unscathed and free; for human justice has no punishment 
for such as they. 

Perhaps the best way to convey a picture of the state of 
South America before the revolt will be to quote in full the 
Manifesto issued from Buenos Ayres in 183 7, reciting the 
circumstances which led up to the movement. It is long, 
but there was much to be told ; the truth of its allegations 
is unquestioned, and it affords a resume of Spanish poKcy 
and procedure which can be supplied in no more effective 
manner. 

"Honor," say the authors of the Manifesto, "is a distinc- 
tion which mortals esteem more than their own existence, 
and they are bound to defend it above all earthly benefits, 
however great and sublime these may be. . . . We waive 
all investigations respecting the rights of conquest, papal 



280 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

grants, and other titles on which Spaniards have usually 
founded and upheld dominion. We appeal to facts. "We 
will exhibit reasons which no rational man can disregard 
unless he could find pleas to persuade a country forever to 
renounce all idea of its own felicity, and in preference to 
adopt a system of ruin, opprobrium and submission. From 
the moment whea the Spaniards possessed themselves of 
these countries, they preferred the system of securing their 
dominion by extermination, destruction and degradation. 
This system has been continued without intermission dur- 
ing the space of three hundred years. They began by as- 
sassinating the monarchs of Peru, and they afterward did 
the same with the other chieftains and distinguished men 
who came in their way. The inhabitants of the country, 
anxious to restrain such ferocious intrusion, owing to the 
great disadvantage of their arms became the victims of 
fire and sword, and were compelled to see their homes in 
fiames, everywhere applied without pity or distinction. 

"The Spaniards then placed a limit to the population of 
the country. Under rigorous laws they prohibited the in- 
gress of foreigners, and in all practicable ways limited that 
even of Spaniards themselves, although latterly the immigra- 
tion of criminals and outcasts was encouraged.. Neither our 
vast though beautiful deserts, formed by the extermination 
of the natives, nor the advantages Spain might have derived 
from their cultivation, nor the incitement of mines the rich- 
est and most abundant on earth, nor the stimulus of innu- 
merable productions fitted to carry agriculture and commerce 
to the highest pitch of opulence, nor even the wanton wicked- 
ness of keeping these countries in their condition of abject 
misery — were motives powerful enough to influence the dark 
and menacing principles of the cabinet of Madrid. In the 
spaces intervening between one city and another there are 
still hundreds of leagues unsettled and uncultivated ; in some 
places entire towns have vanished, either buried in the ruins 
of the mines, or their inhabitants destroyed by the forced 
and deadly labor of working them. Nor have the cries of 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 281 

all Peru nor the remonstrances of zealous ministers availed 
to reform this exterminating system of 'mita,' carried on in 
the bowels of the earth. 

"The art of operating the mines has been unattended by 
the improvements which have distinguished the enlightened 
age in which we live and lessened the incidental casualties. 
Hence, rich mines, worked in a clumsy and wasteful man- 
ner, have caved in and been overwhelmed, or the rush of 
waters has inundated them. Other rare and valuable prod- 
ucts of nature are still undeveloped and neglected by the 
government, and if any among us have ventured to point" 
out their advantages, he has been censured by the court 
and forced to silence, lest competition arise among the few 
artisans of the country. 

"The teaching of science was forbidden us, and only the 
study of Latin grammar was permitted, together with ancient 
philosophy, theology, civil and canonical jurisprudence. Um- 
brage was taken at the Buenos Ayres Board of Trade because 
it presumed to bear the expenses of a nautical school. By 
order of court it was closed. An injunction was also laid 
upon our youth not to visit Paris to become professors of 
chemistry, with a view to teaching this science to their 
countrymen at home. 

"Commerce has always been a monopoly in the hands 
of Spanish traders and the consignees they sent to America. 
Public offices were reserved for Spaniards, and though by law 
they were equally open to Americans, we attained them, if 
at all, only by satisfying the avarice of the courts by sacri- 
ficing immense sums. Among one hundred and sixty vice- 
roys who have ruled in America, only four natives of this 
country are numbered; of six hundred and two captains- 
general and governors, all save fourteen have been Span- 
iards. The same discrimination was made, pro rata, in 
other offices of importance. Even in the lowest situations 
the Americans were hardly permitted to alternate with the 
Spaniards. 

"Everything was arranged by Spain to secure the degra- 



.282 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

datiou of natives of America. She wished no wise men to 
arise among them, lest minds and talents should exist able 
to forward their country's interests, and advancing the civil- 
ization, manners and faculties of the children of the colonies. 
She steadily diminished our population, fearing it might other- 
wise rebel against a dominion maintained only by the few 
hands to whom was intrusted the task of guarding remote 
and extensive regions. She carried on an exclusive trade, 
believing that wealth would render us proud and indepen- 
dent. She forbade us the cultivation of industries, that we 
might lack the means to rise from poverty and misery ; and 
we were excluded from offices of trust, in order that Span- 
iards only might exercise influence in the country, and 
estabhsh among us habits and inclinations that would dis- 
able us from thinking or acting except according to Spanish 
models. 

"Such was the system upheld by the viceroys, each of 
whom bore the state and arrogance of a vizier. They had 
power to crush any who had the misfortune to displease 
them. Be the outrages perpetrated what they might, they 
must be endured with resignation, for the frown of the rulers 
was compared by their satellites to the wrath of God. Com- 
plaints addressed to the home government were either lost 
in transit, or were buried in the offices by the influence of 
relatives or patrons of the men in power. This system, 
so far from being ameliorated, has been more exacting, so 
that all hope of improvement through lapse of time is vain. 
We held no part in our own government, either direct or 
indirect; all legislation was done by Spain. Nor were we 
permitted to send emissaries to point out the wishes and 
needs of the people, as the cities of Spain might do ; and the 
only resource left us was patience ; for he who was not ready 
to endure all in silence was menaced not merely with capital 
punishment, but with torments of such unheard-of cruelty 
as made nature shudder. 

"Not so great nor so persistent were the hardships that 
roused Holland to revolt from the yoke of Spain, nor those 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 283 

of Portugal under like conditions. Less were the sufferings 
which drove the Swiss to the protection of WilHam Tell; less 
those which marshalled the United States of North America 
against the imposts of the British king; less, in short, the 
urgent motives which have driven other countries, not sepa- 
rated by nature from the parent state, to cast off a yoke of 
iron and embrace their own felicity. ... 

"Posterity will marvel at the ferocity toward us of men 
interested to preserve Spanish power in America, and their 
rash folly in punishing demonstrations of affection and loy- 
alty. The name of Ferdinand de Bourbon preceded all 'our 
decrees of government and was at the head of its public acts. 
The flag of Spain floated over our ships and animated our 
regiments. The provinces, beholding the discomfiture of the 
mother country, raised up a watch-tower, as it were, amid 
themselves, to guard their own safety, reserving to them- 
selves the opportunity to return to the captive monarch, 
should he regain his liberty. We offered pecuniary supplies 
to prosecute the war, and we repeatedly published the recti- 
tude of our purposes and the sincerity of our good wishes. 
Great Britain, at that time so friendly to Spain, proffered 
her good offices to mitigate the harshness of our treatment. 
But the Spanish ministers, blinded by their sanguinary 
caprice, spurned mediation and issued orders to their gen- 
erals to push the war and inflict heavier punishments. 
Everywhere .were scaffolds erected, and every means was 
availed of to spread consternation. They tried to divide 
us in order that we might exterminate one another. They 
circulated atrocious calumnies against us, attributing to us 
the design of destroying our sacred religion, of casting aside 
morality, and of giving rein to licentiousness. They urged 
a war of religion against us, devising plots to disturb and 
alarm the conscience of the people, causing Spanish bishops 
to issue edicts of ecclesiastical censure and interdiction among 
the faithful, to publish excommunications, and to sow fanat- 
ical doctrines in the tribunal of penance. Thus have they 
created discord in families, provoked quarrels between par- 
— 13 



284 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

ents and children, torn asunder the bonds uniting man and 
wife, implanted enmity and rancor among brothers formerly 
affectionate, and even placed nature herself ^in a state of hos- 
tility and perversity. They have adopted the system of kill- 
ing men indiscriminately in order to diminish our numbers. 
On their entry into towns, they have seized non-combatants, 
hurried them in groups to the squares, and there shot them 
one by one. The cities of Chuquisaca and Cochabamba have 
more than once been the theatre of these ferocious acts. 
They have mixed our prisoners among their own troops, 
carrying off our officers, in irons, to remote dungeons where, 
during the period of a year, it was impossible for them to 
keep their health. Others they have left to die of hunger 
and misery in the prisons, and many they have forced to 
labor in pubhc works. In an arrogant manner they have 
shot down the bearers of our flags of truce, and perpetrated 
the basest horrors upon military chiefs and other eminent 
persons who had already surrendered themselves, notwith- 
standing the humanity we have always shown to prisoners 
captured from them. In proof of this, we quote the cases 
of Deputy Matos from Potosi, Captain- General Pumacagua, 
General Angulo and his brother, Commandant Munecas, 
and other leaders, shot in cold blood many days after they 
had been made prisoners. 

"In the town of Valle-Grande they enjoyed the brutal 
pleasure of cutting off the ears of the inhabitants, and sent 
a basket filled with these gifts to their headquarters. .They 
afterward burned the town, set fire to thirty other populous 
towns belonging" to Peru, and took delight in shutting up 
persons in their own houses before the flames were applied 
to them, in order that they might there be burned to death. 
They have not only been cruel and implacable in murder, 
but they have also divested themselves of all morality and 
decency by whipping ancient religious persons in the open 
squares, and also women, bound to cannon, having caused 
them first to be stripped of their clothing and exposed to 
shame and derision. For all these kinds of punishments 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 285 

they established an inquisitorial system. They have seized 
the persons of numbers of peaceable citizens and convej^ed 
them overseas to be judged for alleged crimes. Many have 
they sent to execution without any form of trial whatever. 

"They have destroyed our ships, plundered our coasts, 
butchered defenceless inhabitants, without even sparing 
superannuated priests; and by order of General Pezuela 
they burned the church belonging to the town of Puna, and 
put to the sword old men, women and children — the only 
inhabitants found therein. They have stirred up atrocious 
conspiracies among Spaniards domiciliated in our cities, and 
thus forced upon us the painful necessit}^ of imposing capital 
punishment upon the fathers of many families. They have 
compelled our brethren and children to take up arms against 
US, and forming armies out of the people of the country, 
under command of their own officers, have forced them to 
do battle with our troops. They have stirred up domestic 
plots and conspiracies by corrupting with money, and by 
means of all kinds of machinations have misled the peaceful 
inhabitants of the country in order to involve us in anarchy, 
and then, In our weak and divided condition, to overwhelm us. 

"In a shameful and infamous manner they have failed 
to fulfil every capitulation we have concluded with them, 
even at such times as we have had them at the mercy of 
our own swords. They caused four thousand men, after 
surrendering, again to take up arms, together with General 
Tristan, at the action of Salta ; though our oAvn General Bel- 
grano, on the field of battle, had generously granted them 
terms of capitulation, trusting to their word of honor. 

"They have invented a new and horrid species of war- 
fare, by poisoning wells and food, as for example when they 
were conquered by General Pinelo, in La Paz; moreover, in 
return for the kind manner in which the General behaved to 
them, they descended to the barbarous stratagem of blowing 
up the soldiers' quarters, which they had first undermined. 
They have had the baseness to tamper with our generals and 
governors, by abusing the sacred compact of flags of truce; 



286 HISTCP.Y OF SPANISH AilEEICA 

and bj" making written overtures to them have endeavored 
to make them play the traitor to us. Thev have declared 
that laws of 'war as observe-i among civihzed nations cannot 
be oheaved in our coise; and, after the battle of Ayonma, 
their General Pezuela, in order to avoid any comprvr-mise 
or understanding, had the audacity to reply to General 
Balgiano that it was impo^ble to enter into treaties with 
rebels- 

• ' Such has been the conduct of Spaniards toward us since 
the restoration to the throne of his ancestors of Ferdinand 
de Bourb«Dn. TVe then hoped that the end of so many mis- 
fortimes had come. TVe had beUeved that a king schoDled 
in so manj lessons of adversity would not be indifferent to 
the rain of his people; and we dispatched a commissioner 
to him in order to inform biTn concerning our situation. We 
could not for a moment anticipate that, as a benign prince, 
he would fail to meet our wishes; nor could we doubt that 
our requests would interest him in a degree answering to 
the character which had been ascribed to him by his Span- 
ish courtiers of nobOity and consideration. But for America 
was reserved a new and hitherto unknown species of ingrati- 
tude, surpassing aU examples found in history of the greatest 
tyrants. ' ' 

It is curious to compare this prolonged and almost femi- 
nine shriek of aggrieved protest, uttered in 1S17 by the 
republicans of Buenos Ayres, with the curt, masculine ar- 
raignment of George EQ. of England, in our Declaration 
of Independence, by the resolute patriots of 1TT6. We have 
not a Httle compressed and pruned from its native rhetorical 
exuberances the Spanish- American composition ; but the dif- 
ference between the fibre of the Latin Race and that of the 
Anglo-Saxon is abundantly apparent. It is interesting, too, 
to remember that the complainants in this case are precisely 
the same people, by blood, as are the tyrants whom they 
denounce. It has been a case of dog eating dog; and the 
under dog protests as vehemently against the upper dog's 



MORE SPAXLSH CIVILIZATION 2&7 

savagery, as if he himself, a few generations before, had 
not practiced identically the same savagery against the Pe- 
ruvians and other native American races. Spaniards are as 
quick as any one else to denoxmce Spaniards, when Spanish 
tactics are directed against themselves. But our recognition 
of this fact need, not lead us to withhold our compassion 
from the terrible plight in which the Spanish Americans 
stood; we can only marvel at their having endured such 
treatment so long. It would be poUticaUy instructive to 
draw an elaborat-e parallel between the revolt of the Xorth 
American colonies, and its sequel, and those of the South 
American colonies of Spain. The former were not only 
ardent for independence, but they were prepared for self- 
government ; they knew how to be free. They had been out- 
rageously wronged by the British blockheads who formed the 
Cabinet in London; but there was not, nor had there ever 
been, a drop of either slavish or despotic blood in their veins; 
they had never perpetrated barbarities on others, and they 
had never tamely submitted to them, "WTien it came to 
fighting, therefore, there was generated on neither the col- 
onists' nor the English side that species of murderous frenzy 
and Satanic hatred which marked the conduct of both par- 
ties in the war of Spanish- American revolution. But for the 
use of German mercenaries against us by King George, the 
war of our Revolution was a very decent war on both sides, 
and was not attended by any of the fantastic extravagance 
which stain and render grotesque the grapplings and snarl- 
ings of the Spaniards and their colonists a generation later. 
And when our wur was over, we built our Constitution on 
sane and dignified Hnes, and have stuck to it with most 
commendable fidelity ever since; whereas the annals of the 
Spanish American repubhcs are for the most part an anom- 
alous welter of license and despotism, sublime manifestoes 
and base treacheries, heroic proclamations and vulgar as- 
sassinations ; the august robes of Liberty trailed in the mire 
by political trollops of the most profane and bloodthirsty 
type. The testimony of history as regards the Spanish 



288 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

American republics, during the last eighty or ninety years, 
demonstrates plainly that these Latins are not made of self- 
governing stujf ; there is not, in sober truth, such a thing as 
a Spanish American repubhc up to this hour in existence. 
The moment a '"president" is elected — or manages to make 
good a claim to having been elected — he becomes inevitably 
a tyrant, and a mark for assassination. Once in a while we 
find a man like Diaz of Mexico who has really great quali- 
ties, and force enough in his personal character to rule with- 
out constantly resorting to inhuman extremities. Diaz is a 
dictator, as Francia was ; though of course there is a breadth 
and security about bim which poor lonely Francia lacked. 
But circumstances and good fortune, long continued, have 
so settled him in his seat that no one now thinks of attempt- 
ing to get bim out of it ; and consequently he is able to put 
in practice the qualities of statesmanship which he possesses ; 
and which are of incalculable benefit to his subjects and his 
country. Sound statesmanship is by no means foreign or 
impossible to the Latin character; the trouble is, so far as 
Spanish America is concerned, that so few of their leaders 
have arrived at a position where they could call these qual- 
ities into play; their entire time and resources were taken 
up in guarding themselves against conspirators. Not only 
is repubhcanism impossible to Latins, but the pretence of it 
does them great harm ; it becomes to them simply an irre- 
sistible incentive to lawlessness. Their paper preamble de- 
clares that they are all equal, and that any one of them may 
be at the top of the heap; therefore they all engage in a 
fierce scramble to reach that sinister eminence. The com- 
mon people, meanwhile, who will ultimately be the salva- 
tion of the situation, try to do their work and earn their 
living between revolutions, or even while these are in prog- 
ress; they feel no personal interest in the quarrels of the 
governing class, though they cannot avoid being occasion- 
ally dragged into them; they do not comprehend the glori- 
ous privilege of universal suffrage; and certainly they have 
never enjoyed the opportunity of learning what it may be 



MOr-cE SPA>'ISH CIVILIZATION 289 

from practical experience. In the long lapse of time, we 
may hope, the matter will work itself out on common-sense 
principles. Here are magnificent countries to be developed, 
and an ample population to develop them : the weight of 
that pair of facts, if you give them time, must fijially pre- 
vail over all the opera-bouffe element which has hitherto 
been so noisily and bloodily conspicuous. "We may look for 
a gradual drawing together of the several states into one 
homogeneous organism, with probably some able adminis- 
trator at the head; whether that administrator will be a 
Spanish American or quite another species of man, is a 
question we need not here speculate upon. But his gov- 
ernment will be of such a sort that the Spanish American 
politicians cannot overturn it, and the common people will 
not desire to do so ; for they will be permitted to mind their 
own business, and will find peace and prosperity in so doing. 
The English, the Germans, and the Americans from the 
United States, will insensibly possess the industries and 
the conamerce of the continent, and the Spanish strain will 
become more and more diluted, until, for all practical pur- 
poses, it will vanish as a factor in the problem. "When that 
happens we can begin to think about a real republic for 
America, extending from as far north to as far south as 
we please. But, till then, it is a phantasmagory, enter- 
taining as a drama, but with nothing real and substantial 
about it. 

But to return to the period of Spanish domination, we 
may freely admit that it was much less tolerable than the 
worst that we were ever called upon to put up with. The 
colonists were justified, one would say, in any kind of re- 
taliation; and considering that they might have conducted 
themselves like wild beasts, it is to their credit that they 
retained their resemblance to humanity throughout; and 
here and there, in the person of some leader, attained quite 
heroic proportions. But even the most laudable of these 
Spanish American heroes, like St. Martin, for example, suf- 
fers by comparison with the men who led our race, in that 



5290 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

they cannot get rid of their self-consciousness. No matter 
how vast the events in which they move, it is always their 
own part in those events which looms largest in their eyes. 
There are some things in St. Martin which recall the En- 
glish Gordon; but Gordon's soul hurried him along, from 
one end of his life to the other, without Gordon in his proper 
person having anything to say in the matter; whereas St. 
Martin, perhaps hardly less good a man in the orthodox 
sense, continually saw before him, beckoning him on, the 
vision of himself in sublime poses and uttering splendid 
apothegms. It is the old distinction between the purpose 
and the person that is here drawn. It is the distinction be- 
tween Napoleon and "Wellington. The Napoleons often per- 
form prodigious feats, but the Wellingtons are working in 
harmony with permanent principles, and in the end their 
result is the more valuable. 

There is no history, properly speaking, of the southern 
parts of the South American continent, previous to the 
Revolution. The reason is that the native Indians of those 
regions, unlike the Peruvian and Chilian tribes, were not 
advanced in civilization, and had no wealth to tempt the 
invaders withal. They were savages, living as savages do 
from hand to mouth, and incapable of opposing even so 
much resistance to the Spaniards as had the Incas and ,tbe 
Chilians. There was nothing in the outward aspect of the 
vast pampas of the Argentine and lower Brazil to arrest 
the attention of men in quest of gold and precious stones; 
the country might be useful for agricultural purposes, and 
for stock-raising; but it was not until long after the first 
flush of South American discovery was past that these at- 
tractions had much weight with the Europeans. The Ar- 
gentine region was colonized by Spain about the middle of 
the sixteenth century ; and a race of Creoles, mongrels, and 
native Indians lived and grew there until 1810, when the 
first stirrings of revolt began. During those silent ages there 
was no attempt to fix boimdaries, still less of course to quar- 
rel over them ; no one knew how far the country extended, 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 291 

or what- it was worth, Comnierce, so far as it existed, 
sought only the northeastern coast and that of the Pacific 
slopes; every one wished to get his share from the lands 
of gold before the gold was all gone ; and would only take 
up with farming when there was nothing else left. 

The annals of the vast expanse of Brazil are still more 
featureless than those of the Argentine. This country, as 
we have seen, was discovered by a Spaniard, Pinzon, in 
1499, and in the following year the navigator Cabral, a 
Portuguese, while shaping his course for the Cape of Good 
Hope, was blown across the Atlantic and rediscovered the 
country for himself. Inasmuch as it appeared that the land 
lay on the Portuguese side of the imaginary line drawn by 
the Pope, to Portugal was the new region finally assigned, 
and it has remained in Portuguese hands ever since, though, 
a few years ago (1889), Emperor Dom Pedro was forced to 
leave the throne, and a quasi-republic was substituted for 
the empire. In the vast Brazilian forests there is inexhaust- 
ible wealth, and the illimitable plains and plateaus to the 
south are capable of supporting countless herds; but the de- 
ficiency of transport, and the immense difficulty of conduct- 
ing steady industries in these heated and wild regions, will 
for a long time prevent Brazil from realizing its possibilities. 
The area of Brazil is a little over three million square miles, 
while the population is about fourteen millions — or about four 
to the square mile. Evidently, therefore, the country has 
hardly yet reached the threshold of its destiny. Should it 
remain in its present ownership, and under the existing spe- 
cies of administration, it might be several centuries before 
it showed much signs of advance; but it is not likely that 
present conditions will much longer continue. "The horse 
is his who rides it," says the proverb; and Brazil will be 
ridden before the close of the next century by men of another 
race than its discoverers. 

The Spanish American Revolution, though precipitated, 
as we have observed, by the state to which Napoleon reduced 
Spain in the first decade of the nineteenth century, had had 



i92 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

its premonitory rumblings some years before. The example 
of the United States, followed by that of the French Revolu- 
tion, could not be lost upon any man of education and sen- 
sibility whose own country was suffering under oppression. 
Accordingly, we find various more or less obscure move- 
ments and gettings-together of Spanish Americans, toward 
the close of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the 
nineteenth, having in view the purpose to conspire against 
Spain, and to get help, from one nation or another, toward 
making the revolt successful. It need not be doubted that 
there was a great deal of real patriotism behind these move- 
ments ; and we need not criticise them too harshly if we find 
that within this patriotism, as soul within body, was the in- 
tention on the part of the conspirator to himself occupy the 
seat of power now held by the Spanish viceroy, so soon as 
the latter should have been cast down from it; and in the 
meanwhile, of taking the leading part in the operations hav- 
ing that casting down for their object. In other words, it 
would be cause for special wonder if personal ambition had 
not entered largely into the motives of these premature revo- 
lutionaries; the political education they had enjoyed, so far 
as it was pursued in their own country, was not of a sort apt 
to beget disinterested ideas. Moreover, having reflected 
upon the subject of freedom, they would naturally suppose 
themselves better qualified than others to carry to a success- 
ful issue the principles which they had been thinking about. 
The true conditions of government by the people for the peo- 
ple had not been, and could not be, apprehended by such 
men; there was to be a "constitution," of course, with all 
the political virtues inscribed in it ; but as a matter of fact, 
some person, preferably the arch conspirator himself, was 
to guide the new state, and administer its liberties in such 
manner as might seem most expedient. That a legislature 
should be actually and literally representative of the mass 
of the people, and that the presidential office should be purely 
executive, was a conception not as yet above the mental 
horizon of these good folks. And, bearing in mind that the 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 293 

mass of the people were then, and still are, wholly incapable 
of knowing what was for their best interests, we must admit 
that there was much excuse for the blindness of the leaders 
in this particular. 

In fact, the difficulties in the way of organizing a true 
republic in South America were insurmountable. There was 
no material out of which to make one. There was a rabble 
of illiterate and semi-brutalized human beings, but there was 
no democracy. The tyranny of Spain during three or four 
centuries had borne its normal fruits. The rabble disliked 
being worked to death and robbed, no doubt ; they coveted 
all the good things of life that they knew about ; they would 
like to have the say as to what they should do and be ; but 
all that was very different from harboring any intelligent 
notions of self-government. We, in this country, have dis- 
covered that self-government demands a good deal more 
of the individual's time and trouble than most individuals 
are disposed to expend upon it ; and the consequence is, the 
race of professional politicians who manage our affairs and 
help themselves out of our pockets for doing so. The cause 
of our neglect is, not that we do not know better, but that 
we are giving our whole energy, each of us, to building up 
and maintaining our private fortunes or place in the com- 
munity. But in the case of the South Americans, the mass 
of the population would postpone exacting labors for the 
common weal to the indulgence of whatever selfish and 
material indulgences their knowledge or their opportunities 
afforded them. This preoccupation of theirs left apart the 
class of persons, with some private means perhaps, who 
sought to be the governing class. They were comparatively 
few in numbers, but their voices were loud, and their greed 
of office, and of the emoluments of office, was insatiable. 
Each of these persons was for himself, and therefore against 
all the rest; but numbers of them would band together to 
promote the fortunes of some leader, because in his success 
they saw the opening of the road to their own minor ends. 
Political control being the common object of all, no party 



294 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

could remaiu in possession without being the object of the 
intrigues of the other party. And since both sides were as 
a-ruie nearly equally strong in numbers, the situation could 
not be other than chronically insecure. In truth, the only 
form of government for which these South American States 
were fitted, was that of a dictator ; and that was the reason 
why the presidents, one after another, were dict^t^rs more 
or less avowed. If it had not been for that illusion of a 
repubhc behind the dictatorship, all might have gone fairly 
well; but the dictator was rendered vicious and cruel by 
the inward knowledge that he was violating the constitu- 
tion; and the people were kept in tunnoii by the obvious 
fact that they were not getting the kind of government 
which they had been told they were to have. No one seemed 
capable of imderstanding the seemingly simple proposition, 
that if a people is not inwardly free, there is no use in deco- 
rating them with the external symbols of freedom. What 
was needed were education and culture, and the progressive 
nse of the virtues of self-control and duty. A dictator, 
avowedly endowed vrith absolute powers, and secure in his 
position, could have conferred immense benefits upon South 
America; and a succession of such men, during the interval 
which has elapsed since the Revolution, might have brought 
the population up to a level where the exercise of the ballot 
would not be a swindle and an absurdity. Diaz in Mexico, 
in comparatively a few years, has shown what intelligent 
and benevolent dictatorship may accomplish. When he dies, 
he will leave his countrymen so much above what they were 
when he found them, that they may succeed in founding a 
real republic — the first real one that will have been seen 
south of the United States on this continent. 

But to return to actuahties. — In IT 56 there was born in 
Caracas, at the base of the maritime Andes, on the northern 
coast of Venezuela, an individual by the name of Francisco 
Miranda. His family was, socially, of the better sort; they 
possessed property, and the boy received a fair education, 
and was never obhged to work for his living. He was by 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 295 

nature impulsive, passionate, self -conceited, and weak ; given 
to vague imaginings, and easily kindled by exalted notions 
which lacked the substance and knowledge to become reali- 
ties. He was a man in fact who ever mistook the shadow 
for the substance, and was continually in hot water on this 
account; he was voluble and magnanimous in talk, and 
thought that because he said things he did them, and ought 
to receive the rewards of such doing. Had he had the good 
luck to be born in an earlier or in a later age, he might have 
frothed away harmlessly; but it was his doom to live at a 
period when great overturnings were taking place in the 
world, and he got the idea that he himself could become 
such a figure as those which he saw in Europe or in North 
America, standing at the head of nations. He spun out 
elaborate systems of political and social moralicy, and dinned 
them into the ears of whomsoever would listen to him ; he 
waxed eloquent over the wrongs of his country, and formed 
romantic projects of bettering its condition. And, so great 
is the power of mere speech, many persons who listened 
to him took him at his own valuation, or near it, and said to 
themselves that here, once more, was one of the great liber- 
ators of mankind. Meanwhile he drifted to and fro about 
the world, and got mixed up with many things which were 
going on, and attained titles and military rank, and really 
made quite a gorgeous and impressive spectacle, by tho 
glamour of which no one was more deluded than himself. 
He attained the grade of captain in the army, being at that 
time about two and twenty years of age; the American 
Revolution was in progress, and he came north in 1779 and 
served a couple of years in the French contingent of the 
American army. What Washington and Lafayette did for 
the United States he fancied himself capable of doing for 
Colombia. He was in a state of unremitting inspiration and 
stimulation; and as he was still so young, many who con- 
versed with him may have thought that he would one day 
make a name for himself in the world; and so indeed he did; 
for the world can get some profit out of even a mere theo- 



296 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

nzer. Miranda's notions were far from being all nonsense; 
and though he himself might fail in the attempt to put them 
into practice, his words might fall on ears where they would 
fructify into actions. Had Miranda done nothing but the- 
orize, he would have been a much happier and more useful 
man ; it was because he mixed a little action with his words 
that he wrought quite as much mischief as good in his gen- 
eration, and obstructed the designs of better men than he. 

After visiting Cuba, the young Venezuelan went to Eu- 
rope; and in Russia, which was at that time ruled by the 
Empress Catherine II., he found favor in that lady's eyes, 
and w£i3 presented by her with a pension ; but this did not 
quench his enthusiasm for the cause of human liberty. He 
reached France while the Revolution was still in progress, 
and entering into the conflict as a matter of course, on the 
side of the patriots, he attained such success as may be indi- 
cated by the rank of major-general; but in the subsequent 
proceedings he incurred the enmity of the Directory, and in 
order to save his head was forced to fly to that refuge of all 
revolutionists, England. Here he was well received, as be- 
came a man still under forty who had had so distinguished 
a career. He talked to the members of the British govern- 
ment, and his words were still about the freedom of his 
country. He sought to interest William Pitt in the cause; 
and he founded a society of a secret nature, called the Gran 
Reunion Americana, the avowed object of which was the 
freeing from Spain of the South American colonies, ' and 
the influence of which was felt far beyond the place of its 
birth. Other men eminent in South American history were 
connected with this society : San Martin, O'Higgins, Narino, 
Montufar. But the time for overt acts was still delayed. 
The contract to be undertaken was a large one, and must 
be well canvassed before being put to the touch. The Gran 
Reunion put off a branch or sister society called the Lautaro, 
which was established in several Spanish cities, and had its 
fii"st American lodge in Buenos Ayres. The Lautaro, in 
fact, was the more powerful organization of the two, and 



MORE SPAXLSH CITiLiZATION 295 

lasted quite through the revolutionary period, "It was not 
a machine of government, or of speculative propaganda," 
remarks Mitre, in his "Emancipation of South America"; 
"it was an engine of revolution, of war against a common 
enemy and of defence against internal dangers. Under its 
auspices was created the first, popular assembly which gave 
form to the soveragnty of the people; to it was due that 
spirit of propaganda which characterized the Argentine 
revolution, and the maintenance of the alliance with Chili, 
which gave independence to half the continent." In plan- 
ning the ideal republic the Spanish Americans were laudably 
successful; but in working out the practical details in the 
field of battle and in the forum and cabinet, they were 
greatly hampered, as has before been intimated, by the 
intrusiveuess of the "personal equation." 

Miranda continued to hover here and there, never getting 
his feet on solid ground, for several years. A nature lik» 
his cannot keep its own coimsel, and grow strong by re- 
pressed thought; he must ever be communicating his grand 
ideas to some one, in order that his hearer may reinforce his 
own good opinion of himself by praising, or at least seriously 
criticising, his schemes and sentiments. Thc^e who knew 
the man best were not always his best friends. "He is a 
great moralizer," says his quondam subordinate, James 
Briggs. "According to his own declaration, vice and mean- 
ness in any shape are qiiite abhorrent to his taste and judg- 
ment. If you take his word for it, he is a lover of virtue 
even to enthusiasm. To use his own language, he 'abomi- 
nates tyranny, hates fools, abhors flatterers, detests pride, 
and laments the corruption of modern days. * He loves free- 
dom, admires candor, esteems wise men, respects htmiilitr, 
and delights in that noble and beautiful integrity and good 
faith which distinguished the golden times of antiquity. He 
would renovate the perverted minds of mankind and restore 
the ancient beatitudes, when every excellence and virtue 
prevailed among men, for the happiness of the present race, 
and the perpetual prosperity of future generations." James 



Ci'S Hisr.jY :7 sp-L>r!:sH a^izt^ita 



T.:-::- r _i'; r . _: iii -_: rvwhip- 



.tizi: 



:_ - :_ : was si--::-1t ;-1_i \:;:7:_\- j: .:: ._ 

azi - : ~t: : _ : : !_ - :=. ; r::7: :: _-r :: r_:nias 

Ci—-:2.- : - ~ _r _; r : :: — r" .ice, he gives iK 

a sir: _ _ : _^ : ^i __ i^ :: r _ siyle. "'If/' he 
ex;l-__- _- _ - :! : _ _::_ 3.ve pronoxinced 

on the ruTMir iT;:.~v oi our dear C. :i_-i^. is to be aecom- 
P-i-hi-i in : : iiv. mav ProTidettce gr.r.: th?.: it maybe 
111- It: 7 -_ Auspices and by the graif: :m; tZ ::so£hfiic 

•: ^z _ z We <hall tii^i in some son "c'-rL . :_t :^.rrlval 
:: :_ .t 'le T^'nm. oi which the Eom--i i z :ked 
1:1 1^-:: ; :_t _ _iz race" — and he ri.TTi-S :: ii.te a 
TersT _ _: ii. Z. :^ir :: Virgil! Bur Je±"r:-::i 'M? not 
to c-i :ri-.i_: wT -Uvil, cIiAix. At the time :^.:l1S letter was 
wrinen, Je5erson was in the midst of his second term as 
Presidenr, and the conspiracv of Aaron Burr was yet befoul- 
ing the land with the iU cdor of its f atile intent. Bat Miran- 
da had been at "work in this conntry as far back as Adams's 
time. There was a plot on foot to midertake an expedition 
against the Spanish American colonies under the joint pro- 
tection of Great Britain and the United States, to enable 
those colonies to free themselves from the Spanish yoke- 
Spain was at that moment in alliance with France. Great 
Briton wonld have provided the ships of war for the proj- 
ect, and the United Stares the army; if the aifair sn-cceeded. 
Great Britain was to get as her reward the West Indies as a 
market for her manufactures, and right of travel across the 
Isthmus ; and the United Slates would have Florida and ail 



MOEE .SPA>TSH CIYILIZATIOX 299 

Spanish Louisiana east of the Mississippi. Miranda was in 
secret conference with several of our public men at this time 
regarding the plan, and England, being desirous to stave off 
the threatened invasion of her coast by Napoleon, was very- 
ready to secure the United States as an ally. Our Alexander 
Hamilton, who was ever disposed to look for gloiy beyond 
the routine confines of the political field, was counted upon 
for support, which would be especially valuable by reason 
of his great weight in our diplomacy. It is probable that 
had Hamilton followed his own preferences, the expedition 
would have been undertaken. He was in confidential .corre- 
spondence with Miranda in 1T98, and expected to be himself 
the leader of the American forces. Miranda, who was at the 
moment in London, replied that all would be ready in Eng- 
land as soon as the United States should give the word. 
Fortunately, however, Hamilton was not able to give the 
word, because Adams, who was President, was not inclined 
to go into the enterprise ; he counted the cost of this invad- 
ing army of Americans, and could not see where the returns 
came in. "Regiments are costly articles," he said, "and 
at present there is no more prospect of seeing a French army 
here than there is in Heaven." In other words, he was not 
in favor of fighting France for Miranda's sake, or even for 
the sake of giving Hamilton a chance to win military glory. 
Accordingly, poor Miranda was kept waiting for "the word" 
which he was destiaed never to hear ; and with that oppor- 
tunity his best chance of getting other nations to back his 
efforts disappeared. 

Had all South American revolutionists been like Miranda, 
Spain might still be holding undisturbed possession of the 
territory. But such men as San Martin and Bolivar had 
no relish for hanging round the back doors of foreign gov- 
ernments, begging for armies and ships to do their fighting 
and liberating for them. Nations are not wont to indulge 
in altruistic adventures for the benefit of their neighbors, 
unless they are assured of receiving at least as much as they 
give. BoKvar and San Martin had divined this truth, and 



JjO-> HISTORY or SPANISH AMERICA 

conducted tiieiuselvess aooordingly. They knew that Spain 
had no friends for her own sake; but she could count on 
what was just as good — friends for the sake of the use she 
could serve to others. Nations that took part ia freeing 
South America from Spain would do so only in orvler to se- 
cure South America for themselves. And though it might 
be true that any tyranny was preferable to that of the mother 
countryj still, if South American blood was to be shed at all, 
it might better be independently than as the cat's-paw of 
others. 

Having failed in his international eonspiraoy, Miranda 
left London and appeared ia 2s"ew York about 1S06. He 
must attempt something, or be finally discredited. There 
were at that time plenty of persons in our country who were 
ready to undertake any sort of enterprise that promised 
adventure and profit: and the vague notion that South 
America was the land of gold stiU prevailed in many idle 
and ill-informed minds. Miranda was voluble, grandiloquent 
and plausible as ever, and he was able to make out a promis- 
ing case for his project. This project was, to collect a band 
of heroes, sail for Venezuela, proclaim a republic, and then 
trust to luck. It was practically certain, according to him, 
that the Tenezuelans would promptly rally to his standard, 
and overthrow the tyrants. And when England and the 
United States saw that fortune was iacHning his way, they 
would be willing to give whatever moral or even physical 
support might be needed to chnch the success of the advent- 
ure. Having got his followers together, not all of whom 
clearly understood what was reaUy in the wind, he set sail 
from !^^ew York, and on the loth of February arrived at the 
port of Jaquamel in San Domingo. He was provided with 
a tricolor fiag, and with a printing-press for the printing of 
•yie indispensable proclamations and manifestoes. These 
documents were addressed to the People of South America, 
and were signed by Don Francisco Mirknda, Commander-in- 
Chief of the Colombian Army of South America. They 
drew a moving picture of the wrongs and oppressions under 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 301 

which the jjeople were groaning, and painted in vivid colors 
the advantages of freedom and glory which the Commander- 
in-Chief was prepared to bestow upon them. Those mem- 
bers of the exjjedition who had ?>een given brevet rank as 
officers were now called up, and their full commissions were 
issued to them, Miranda constituting himself the fountain 
of honor for the occasion. All this having been done, a 
delay occurred, for it had been announced that the army was 
to be reinforced by two other ships, the "Cleopatra" and the 
"Emperor," American merchantmen, which had been or- 
dered to rendezvous at Jaquamel. The name of Miranda's, 
own vessel was the "Leander." The other two ships not 
arriving according to contract, Captain Lewis and Major 
Smith were sent to Port au Prince to find out what was the 
matter. They returned in due time, and reported that noth- 
ing was discoverable concerning the reinforcements in ques- 
tion. .What was to be done? The Army of Liberation 
numbered little more than one hundred men; South Amer- 
ica is a large place, and the Spaniards had more than a 
hundred soldiers there. Finally, two small unarmed schoon- 
ers were obtained — the "Bee" and the "Bacchus" — and 
desperate efforts were made to raise more men; but after 
all was said and done, the total force at Miranda's disposal, 
including the sailors, did not exceed two hundred. But two 
hundred heroes can do much, if they stick together, and take 
an oath to be true and faithful to the cause, and to obey the 
orders of the "supreme government." This oath was ac- 
cordingly administered, with all solemnity; and the officers 
subscribed to an additional instrument binding them to be 
governed by the articles of war of the United States, modi- 
fied according as the usages of the different foreign govern- 
ments under which they might find themselves should 
require. Having thus given the enterprise all the formality 
possible, strict discipline was enforced upon all the members, 
and the army was apparently ready for business. 

But the readiness was hardly unanimous. The sailors 
on board the "Bee," awakening to the actual facts of their 



302 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

position, and being wholly unfired by the prospect of freeing 
South America, vehemently desired to escape from their pre- 
dicament forthwith, and tried to devise means to get away. 
But they were without arms; and at the crisis of their at- 
tempt, the men of the '*Leander" came to the assistance 
of the "Bee" ofl&cers, quelled the mutiny, put the ringlead- 
ers in irons, and produced the outward appearance of subjec- 
tion. But it was apparent only, for the purpose to desert 
was as ardent as ever. Sail was now made upon the fleet, 
however, and there ensued ten days of cruising on the blue 
waters of the Caribbean, the destination being the little island 
of Bonair or Buen Ayre, one of a group of three owned by 
the Dutch, off the northern coast of Venezuela, and some 
seventy miles east of the Gulf of Venezuela. But the pilot 
was out in his reckoning, and brought the fleet directly to 
the gulf itself. This would never do; so they put about, 
and after some trouble and anxiety, succeeded in making the 
island of Aruba, one of the above-mentioned group, to the 
west of Bonair. It was now the 4th of April, 1806. 

Whil^ lying at this port, there arrived a mysterious 
English schooner called the "Echo," which was said to be 
engaged in the smuggling trade; her captain, Phillips, com- 
municated with Miranda, and received from him certain 
sealed dispatches; after which he sailed away, and never 
appeared again. The fleet began beating up to the east- 
ward, and on April 34th was within sight of Bonair; but 
the English frigates which Miranda professed to be expect- 
ing had not been heard of. By this time the alarm and dis- 
affection which had come to open expression on board the 
"Bee," began to spread over the rest of the fleet and army; 
and Miranda had nothing but words to combat it withal. 
But he made such good use of his resources in this respect, 
that finally a sort of hollow accord was patched up ; the men 
were to receive thirty dollars a month pay, with a bounty of 
fifty dollars to all who should have achieved warlike distinc- 
tion at the close of the campaign ; together with other rewards 
and advantages more or less explicit and alluring. It was 



MORE SPANISH CIVILIZATION 303 

not dazzling, but it was accompanied by so much talk about 
glory and honor that it passed, for the time being, with many 
of the men. Others were not so readily persuaded. They 
had been hurried into the scrape without any clear idea of 
its nature ; but they now reflected that the United States 
was not at war with Spain, and that if they met with dis- 
aster, they could not look to the United States to help them. 
On the other hand, what was thirty dollars a month, and 
contingencies? They resolved to vanish. Two men, Davis 
and Sperry, undertook to find out upon whom they could 
rely. The plot was in a promising condition, when it was 
discovered; and just at that juncture two Spanish ships 
happened into the port, and an action took place. "After 
some broadsides exchanged between the armed vessels on 
both sides," says Moses Smith, in his contemporary narra- 
tive, "they were ordered to board the enemy on the lee side, 
while the 'Leander' was to attack and board the ship on the 
weather side. They obeyed their orders; but before they 
could accomplish them, to their inexpressible astonishment, 
they saw the 'Leander' (with Miranda on board) haul down 
her colors and make off ! The remaining ships were boarded 
and taken by the Spaniards. The men were plundered, 
stripped and rifled; and so impatient were the conquerors 
for the booty, that before they took time to pull the clothes 
off, they first cut the pockets to make sure of the contents. 
So expert were they in this inglorious kind of warfare that 
they seldom failed to clear away the pocket with a single 
stroke. The prisoners were next pinioned and secured, tied 
back to back, and in that humiliating posture conveyed to 
Porto Cabello. There they were disembarked and driven 
into the castle of St. Philip, chained two and two, and 
loaded with irons. They were divided into two parties of 
about thirty each, the whole number taken in the two 
schooners amounting to about sixty. They were then 
thrown into two separate dungeons, and suffered inde- 
scribable privations. Their trial took place toward the 
end of June. It was not till the 20th of Julv that their 



304 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

doom was announced to them. On that day their prison 
doors were thrown open, and they were told by an inter- 
preter that they must come out and be hanged. The names 
of ten of the prisoners, all officers in Miranda's army, were 
first called, and the interpreter read this sentence from a 
paper he held: — 'In the morning of to-morrow, at six 
o'clock, you, and each of you, are sentenced to be hanged 
by the nfeck until you are dead; after which your heads are 
to be severed from your bodies, placed upon poles, and dis- 
tributed in the most public parts of the country.* The re- 
mainder, being nineteen in number, were sentenced to eight 
years' imprisonment in the castle of Boca Chica, near Carta- 
gena: which sentences were all executed." 

Thus was the Grand Army of Liberation obliterated by 
a couple of scurvy Spanish brigs, before it had so much as 
set foot on Spanish dry land, or made its existence known 
to the waiting myriads of South Americans who were al- 
leged to have been expecting its arrival^ The disgraceful 
poltroonery of Miranda is so wholly vile and inexcusable, 
that it is nothing less than a marvel that he ever ventured 
' to show his face among men again. But men of his kidney 
can talk themselves into heroics at the very moment they are 
being kicked by justly irate critics; and incredible though 
it seems, he outlived this affair, and achieved a conspicuous- 
ness which, while it lasted, must have seemed miraculous 
even to himself. Never was mortal afforded better opportu- 
nities to distinguish himself than this jackdaw enjoyed; nor 
did any one ever make worse use of them. We shall be 
obliged to bring him forward once more. But before doing 
so we shall take the reader back into the sixteenth century, 
to pick up the thread of the career of Cortes — a person of 
a character sufficiently contrasted with that of Miranda. 
Mexico has been all this while developing on lines of her 
own, and it behooves us to trace rapidly the circumstances 
which brought her to her present position. 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 305 




VI 

THE SEQUEL OF CORTES " 

'E left Cortes at the conclusion of the siege of 
Mexico City, or Tenochtitlan ; one of the bloodi- 
est sieges of histor}^ if all that is told of it be 
true. The city had been defended by the young successor 
of Montezuma, Cuahtemoc; he was captured on the 13th 
of August, 1531, and brought before Cortes. He is de- 
scribed as a manly youth, grandly proportioned, handsome 
of face and fearless of bearing. Cortes, with Malina beside 
him, stood on an elevation, from which he had been direct- 
ing the siege. The young Aztec chief was as brave a man 
as the Spaniard, and there was none of the feebleness of 
Montezuma in his make-up. His defeat did not diminish 
the pride and serenity of his behavior. His eyes met those 
of Cortes, and he laid his hand on the dagger in the latter's 
girdle. "Kill me, I ask you that favor," said he. "I have 
done what I could for my people." But Cortes, who hoped 
to learn from the other where the treasures of Montezuma 
were concealed, assured the chief that he desired his welfare 
and friendship ; and he and his wife were treated for a while 
with great courtesy and consideration. While the city was 
being rebuilt under Cortes's direction, he tried to lead the 
captive to reveal the secret, and the Spanish soldiers sought 
everywhere for the hoard, which was believed to rival that 
of the fabulous Niebelungen. But they could find no traces 
of it, and as Cuahtemoc remained mute, in spite of all blan- 
dishments, the chivalrous Cortes changed his tactics, and 
threatened him with torture. Threats did not move the 
Aztec; and at the Conqueror's command, and to his ever- 
lasting shame, Cuahtemoc's feet were put into burning oil; 
as were also those of the chief of Tlacopan, who was sus- 



306 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMEEICA 

pected of sharing the knowledge of the hiding-place. But 
all was in vain ; Cortes had his infamy for his pains. The 
treasure was never found; it was thought to have been 
thrown into the lake, but no dredging or diving could get 
up an ounce of it. Treasure-seekers have hunted for it ever 
since, with as little success. Possibly it had been taken 
away in small parcels by faithful servants ; or perhaps there 
was no treasure. But there will always remain the convic- 
tion in the minds of many people that somewhere near the 
city of Tenochtitlan a vast quantity of gold and precious 
stones lies buried, to reward the fortunate person whom 
chance, or the divining-rod, or some ancient chart or tra- 
dition, may lead to it. Meanwhile, the romancers have a 
free field. 

The remaining days of Cuahtemoc were few and evil; 
after lingering in his agony, he and his fellow-captives 
were finally hanged on a false charge of conspiracy, at 
the town of Izancapac, of the Tabascans. The execution 
of these brave and innocent men marked the end of the 
Aztecan rule in Mexico. There were no subsequent revolts 
of the natives ; and the remaining chiefs, having submitted, 
were allowed to die by the course of nature. Such of the 
tribes as were unwilling to live under Spanish rule, retired 
to the mountains, where their descendants may yet be 
found. There were no Araucanians in Mexico, to carry 
on a war for centuries. The deserts and sierras on the out- 
skirts of the settled regions were full of peril for travellers 
from the sudden attacks of these wild tribes, whose manner 
of life resembled in some respects that of the Arabs of the 
African Sahara. But there was never any systematic or 
combined effort on the part of the Indians to recapture 
Tenochtitlan, or to drive out the invaders. By them, as 
by all men, the Spaniards were hated ; but they acquiesced 
in the situation; and Mexico, in consequence, rapidly be- 
came a Spanish province. 

After the city had been repaired in some measure, the 
country was placed under martial law, with certain unim- 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 307 

portant indulgences to some of the chiefs, who were per- 
mitted to keep the name while losing the reality of power. 
Cortes himself was the ruler; his titles, self-imposed, indi- 
cated that he commanded in civil affairs, in military mat- 
ters, and in the courts of justice. Cortes then proceeded to 
reduce his kingdom systematically ; he sent forth expeditions 
to outlying places, and generally received the submission of 
the chiefs without the necessity of fighting for it. None was 
so confident in his strength as to believe that where Monte- 
zuma and Cuahtemoc had failed, he could succeed. We can 
imagine these picturesque barbarians journeying, one after 
the other, to the famous valley, to pay their respects to the 
great white chief, and to view the ruins of his victory. 
Many of these chiefs were terrorized into accepting the 
Christian faith, as interpreted and administered by the 
Spaniards. During the ensuing three years, the territory 
of New Spain, as Mexico was for a time called, was ex- 
tended as far as Honduras. Over this comparatively un- 
known region Cortes set one of his oflficers, Christobel de 
Olid, who, presuming too much on his distance from the 
centre of affairs, had the temerity to set up in business on 
his private account. Cortes was not the man to endure 
rivals; he set out for Honduras, and Olid lost his satrapy 
and his life. Meanwhile the work of obliterating all ves- 
tiges of the native religion and dominion went on. The 
Aztec war-gods were cast down and their temples destroyed ; 
the picture-written records were burned, upon the plea that 
they were magical documents, allied with the evil practices 
of heathendom ; and gradually the distinctive names of the 
tribes themselves were abolished, and all alike were given 
the indiscriminate name of Indians. It was no doubt a gain 
for decency and comfort that the human sacrifices were done 
away with ; but in other respects the civilization imposed by 
Spain was perhaps not greatly to be preferred to that of the 
Aztecs ; in some features it was inferior thereto. Such as it 
was, the natives accommodated themselves to it as best they 
might, and in spite of the enormous slaughter occasioned by 
— 14 ' 



308 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

the Conquest, there were enough of them left to make a fair 
beginning. The Nahuatl race was a remarkable one, and 
their only serious fault seems to have been their indulgence 
in the rites of blood. But even this was probably objec- 
tionable to the majority of them; so that the Spaniards, in 
causing them to discontinue the practice, could actually be 
credited with having done some good in the world. 

The Spanish government, as we have seen, was at first 
a military autocracy, of which Cortes was the head. But 
he had the good sense not to attempt to carry it entirely 
alone. He gathered around him the more distinguished and 
able of his followers, constituting of them a sort of advisory 
board, which he called the Ayuntamiento. To this body, 
which was maintained during his reign, he delegated the 
business of founding new cities, and of dispensing lands to 
colonists; of creating regular markets, and of instituting 
sanitary measures and seeing that the laws of the realm 
were carried out. The laws in question were often so 
sound and just that they survive to this day. Cortes also 
provided against trouble in Spain by sending periodical 
consignments of gold to the king, and by referring all his 
conquests and acts of sovereignty to the Spanish throne. 
When we consider that he was at this time only about five- 
and-thirty years of age, we must concede to him the posses- 
sion of remarkable genius both in war and in diplomacy; 
and he compares well with the other eminent conquistadores 
of his epoch. But he had his foibles ; and among them was 
his treatment of -Malina. 

This girl, as has been shown in the course of our narra- 
tive, had been his constant companion throughout his ad- 
ventures in the land of New Spain. She was not only dear 
to him in her capacity as a beautiful and intelUgent woman, 
but she was invaluable as an interpreter, and as one who 
knew the customs and traits of the Aztec people. By his 
command, she was always treated with respect by his offi- 
cers, and her position was the same as if she had been his 
lawful wife. She was faithful and courageous; and during 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 309 

his darkest hours she always remaiaed confident and cheer- 
ful. During the Noche Triste she was cared for by a de- 
tachment of Tlaxcallans, and throughout the dangerous days 
that followed she was always by his side. If ever woman 
merited undying gratitude from man, MaUna was she. 

After the siege was over, Cortes went to reside at the 
neighboring town of Coyoacan, and Malina was with him 
there. It was her hour of feUcity. The man whom she re- 
garded as the chief of heroes had triumphed over all obsta- 
cles, and was in the position of highest dignity and power. 
She lived in the style of a queen, with a palace and attend- 
ants, and meeting with respect and praise from all. Her 
union with Cortes had resulted in the birth of a son, to 
whom she gave the name of her lover. She looked for- 
ward to a long life of happiness with the man of her heart. 
Whether or not Cortes had ever happened to mention to 
Malina the fact that he had a wife in Cuba we are not cer- 
tainly informed; he may have thought other topics of con- 
versation more expedient ; but that he did have a wife there 
is no doubt; and there is a romantic story connected with 
the marriage. The lady was Dona Catalina Juarez, who 
was living in Hispaniola at the time of Cortes's arrival there. 
Cortes, then an unknown young man, fell in love with ths- 
lady, whose attractions were unfortunately so great that she 
had already won the devotion of the governor, Velasquez. 
Naturally, jealousy was engendered between the two men; 
but all the power was in the hands of Velasquez, and he 
used it against his rival. He pursued Cortes with every 
species of persecution, and though he did not venture to 
put him to death, he had him arrested on some trumped-up 
charge, and cast into a dungeon — which, in a country like 
Hispaniola, meant a good chance of death by disease and 
misery. But Cortes had his career stiU before him, and 
meanwhile was too full of life, love and enterprise to submit 
to confinement ; he contrived to get out of his cell, and took 
refuge in a church, hoping to plead successfully the right of 
sanctuary. But either by some indiscretion of his own, or 



310 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

by the unrelenting purpose of his adversary, he was again 
captured, and this time he was thrown into the hold of a 
ship, with a chain round his leg. Even this was insufficient 
to hold or subdue him; he procured a small boat which con- 
veyed him from the ship, and from the boat he reached the 
shore by swimming. He now sought sanctuary once more; 
there was nothing else for a prisoner in Hispaniola to do; 
and finally matters were accommodated between him and 
the governor, and the marriage of Cortes and Dona Catalina 
took place with all the formalities of the Catholic Church. 
The lovers had no doubt been forced into each other's arms 
by the very efforts which were made to keep them apart; 
and were not well enough acquainted with each other's in- 
terior character to know whether or not they were adapted 
to a life of matrimonial felicity. At all events, Velasquez, 
having yielded his point, made handsome amends for his 
former actions by appointing Cortes Alcalde of Santiago de 
Cuba, where he went to hve with his wife ; and when the 
quarrel with Grijalva occurred, the commission to go to 
Mexico was offered to Cortes, and gladly accepted. But 
he made no provision to carry Catalina with him : already 
that rose had lost its sweetness for him. It is even asserted 
that had Cortes been left wholly free in the matter, he would 
never have married the lady at all ; but she had taken an- 
other view of the situation, and had been convinced that 
since Velasquez had given her up, it was to the interest of 
her reputation to marry the other man. Be that as it may, 
time enough had elapsed for their relations to become 
strained; there was no love lost between the pair, and 
Cortes took his departure with a distinct feeling of relief. 
Catalina vanished from history during the time of his war- 
ring against the Aztecs; but after he had become settled in 
his new kingdom, she thought it well to join him; there was 
no longer any question of conjugal affection, but only of 
conjugal rights; Cortes was a famous and powerful man, 
and she might as well enjoy the advantages of his emi- 
nence. 



THE SEQUEI OF CORTES 311 

Her arrival was doubtless unwelcome to her husband j 
but the Catholic Church is very particular regarding th© 
inviolability of marriage, and Cortes could not venture to 
defy its law. Dona Catalina made a magnificent entry into 
Mexico City, and assumed her legal position as head of the 
governor's establishment. Malina had her rights too, as she 
thought ;- but Cortes, despite his courage and diplomatic gen- 
ius, was unequal to this test, and gave her to understand 
that her day was past. She appealed to the priest, Father 
Olmedo, who had baptized her and given her her Christian 
education; but he had no help to give her, except to exhort 
her to make use of all such Christian virtues as might be at 
her disposal. Accordingly, the unhappy woman departed; 
but the story was not yet finished. Dona Catalina was not 
destined long to enjoy her triumph; it was officially an- 
nounced that the rare atmosphere of the Mexican plateau 
did not agree with her constitution, brought up as she had 
been in the soft, relaxing air of the Antilles; and the next 
thing that was known, she suddenly died. It is possible, 
no doubt, that the official explanation is true, and that the 
cause of her demise was a normal inabihty to draw her breath 
at an elevation of seven thousand feet above the sea* But 
there is a persistent tradition, which most people incline to 
believe, that her end came owing to the direct action of her 
husband, who took her bodily and dropped her into a well; 
and visitors to Mexico are still shown the self-same well which 
is alleged to have been the means of her end. The tale may 
do Cortes injustice; but certain it is that from this time his 
fortunes began to wane. The suspicion pursued him, and 
circumstances seemed to give the accusation substance. 
When he was preparing for bis expedition to Honduras to 
subdue Olid, it became necessary to include an interpreter in 
his retinue ; and who so fitted for the post as his old friend 
Malina. She was accordingly installed in that position, and 
they set out. But people began to talk, saying that the 
death of Catalina had happened very opportunely; and the 
talk finally became so audible, that Cortes was forced to 



312 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

take notice of it. If the belief gained ground that he had 
murdered his wife, it was not likely that the court of Spain 
would permit him to represent it in New Spain. Something 
must be done to down the report. Unfortunately for Malina, 
she supplied the most convincing means of proving Cortes's 
innocence. If he had killed Catalina, it must have been for 
Malina's sake. In order, then, to show that no such motive 
could have actuated him, he commanded Malina to marry 
one of his officers, Don Juan de Jaramillo. Evidently, when 
love and ambition came into conflict in Cortes's heart, it 
would never be love that got the better of the encounter. 
Malina hardly knew Jaramillo by sight: but she submitted 
to her fate, and went through the form of becoming his wife 
by rites of Church. It is added by the chroniclers, however, 
that she never hved with the man, but immediately with- 
drew to the place where she was born, the little pueblo of 
Painala, near the eastern coast. Here, in the days before 
the invasion, she had lived with her father, who had been 
a notable chief under Montezuma ; and as a child she had 
enjoyed all the barbaric luxuries which her station afforded. 
But her father died when she was eleven years old (she was 
born in 1503) and her mother married again, and had a son 
by her new husband. The son was thereupon preferred to 
Malina, and an attempt was even made to prove that the 
latter had died; a slave was buried in her stead, in order 
that the son might be disembarrassed of a rival claimant 
to the family inheritance. But Malina was alive, and, in 
order to get her. out of the way, she was sold as a slave, 
and taken to the Tabascans, where she lived until Cortes 
came. The Tabascan chief then presented her, together 
with a number of other pretty maidens, to the invader; 
and as she was acquainted both with the Mayan and Az- 
tecan dialect, she was soon employed as interpreter. Such 
had been her history ; when she now reappeared in her an- 
cestral home, where her mother and stepfather, and their 
son, were still living, they became greatly alarmed lest she 
should use her power as a favorite of the conquerors to re- 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 313 

venge herself for their former ill treatment of her. But 
revenge had no habitation in the sad and gentle heart of 
Malina ; she relieved the apprehensions of her relatives, and 
settling down among them, passed the rest of her life, which 
was very short, in silent retirement. She died before Cortes 
met with the reverses and disgrace which attended the close 
of his career. He found it necessary to make several voy- 
ages to Spain, in the attempt to secure his position with the 
court; on his first appearance he was greeted as became a 
conqueror and a hero, and the title of Marquess of the Valley 
of Oaxaca was conferred upon him. So brilliant a figure, 
invested with the glory of romance, and the tender interest 
of widowerhood, could not fail to be affecting to the fair 
sex, and when Cortes went back to Mexico, he took with 
him another wife — the daughter of Count Aguilar, brother 
of the Duke of Be jar, Dona Juana de Zuniga. But the 
alliance was of ill omen. The Conquest of Mexico was no 
longer the greatest achievement of Spain in America. Peru 
had been discovered, and the reports of the wealth and splen- 
dor of that country made the riches of Tenochtitlan seem 
trifling, and with them dwindled the repute of their finder. 
He again sought the presence of Charles V., but that able 
sovereign gave him a chilly reception ; and when a Spanish 
court is chilly, it is one of the unhealthiest places in the 
world. Cortes retired with his hair on end, went to Seville, 
and died there a few years later, in dishonor and obscurity. 
He had risen to the highest honors possible to a Spanish 
subject, and by his great qualities he had deserved them; 
but he was a murderer and a dastard in his relations with 
women, and for this and other cruel crimes he deserved more 
than the trifling punishment inflicted on him. In fact, his 
only sin, so far as Charles was concerned, was that he had 
become inconvenient; much darker criminals than he, with- 
out a tithe of his parts, were kept in honorable positions 
without any reference to their vileness. Be that as it may, 
the sun of Cortes set in gloom; and since he had valued 
place and power more than anything else in this world. 



314 HISTORY OF SPANISH ATilERICA 

he perhaps suffered quite as much as if his head had been 
taken off. 

Charles now decided to put the new country under the 
control of a body of men representative of him, whose au- 
thority should be absolute under his ; they were to be given 
each his province; and their mutual jealousies would serve 
to keep them all in due subordination. It was the same plan 
of an Audiencia that was observed in Peru. The members 
of the first board reached Mexico in 1528; their chief was 
Nuno de Guzman, a finished tyrant and a man of blood,, and 
therefore well in harmony with the fashion of the time. His 
instructions had been to treat the Indians with kindness; 
but he interpreted the order in a Pickwickian sense, and not 
only continued the slave business, but murdered right and 
left with great industry. His object, and that of his col- 
leagues, was to enrich themselves; they came into opposi- 
tion with the ecclesiastical powers in New Spain, and were 
excommunicated by the Spanish bishop ; in return for which 
they disturbed the proceedings of the priests. Guzman went 
to the maritime province of Michoacan, on the Pacific coast, 
and applied himself to despoiling the chief of that hitherto 
untroubled region, Calzonzi, sovereign of the Tarascans, of 
his wealth. But Calzonzi was either not so rich as Guzman 
thought he ought to be, or else he concealed the fact from 
his inquisitor; and by way of reproof for his greed, Guzman 
burned him alive. Guzman then proceeded on his journey, 
and laid waste the country round Jalisco, founding in that 
place the city of Espiritu Santo, now known as Guadalajara. 
Thus he went on, sowing misery wherever he came, until at 
length the arrival of a second Audiencia put an end to his 
career. The new Audiencia published a decree reaffirming 
the slave law ; whoever should presume to enslave an Indian 
should die. It also founded a college for the education of 
the Indians, providing that they should be instructed in the 
Latin language ; though why Latin-speaking Indians should 
be happier or better than those unversed in that tongue does 
not appear. But there can be no question that it is more 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 315 

praiseworthy to teach an Indian Latin than to burn him 
alive for not having enough money to be' robbed of. The 
priests also exercised an influence over the natives which, 
upon the whole, was beneficial, and matters began to go 
more comfortably. But the members of the Audiencia were 
not always able to agree among themselves, and as all their 
disputes were brought before the king for adjustment, he 
finally made up his mind to put an end to them by appoint- 
ing a viceroy whose authority should be supreme. The func- 
tions of the Audiencia (which was continued) were hereafter 
to be confined to dispensing justice at the civil courts of the 
realm. The plan turned out to be the most successful yet 
devised, though quarrels between the viceroy and the Audi- 
encia still occasionally occurred. Indeed the territory of 
New Spain was of such vast extent that it was hardly pos- 
sible for one man to control it efficiently ; it embraced not 
only what is now known as Mexico, but in addition the coun- 
tries of Texas, Alta California, New Mexico and Louisiana. 
But a small part of this was actually colonized by Spaniards, 
and little was known of its character and boundaries. 

The first viceroy selected for this great office was Antonio 
de Mendoza, who was a representative of one of the most 
honorable and ancient families of Spain; their historical 
generations numbered no less than twenty-three, and they 
claimed to be descendants of the Cid, the legendary Spanish 
hero in the wars with the Moors. The Conde de Tendilla — 
such was his title — seems to have been almost a paragon 
among men of that epoch; his object in undertaking the 
government was not simply to fill his pockets by draining 
the resources of the country and slaughtering its inhabitants; 
but, first, to improve the condition of the natives, and, sec- 
ondly, to advance the welfare of the colonists. That a man 
of this stamp existed in that age, and of that country, is a 
relief and somewhat of a surprise ; and still more singular is 
it that he should have been chosen for so conspicuous a post. 
But Charles Y. , who was in some respects one of the greatest 
Spanish sovereigns, was becoming weary of the cares of office, 



316 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

^nd may have already bethought himself to retire, leaving a 
worthy man to represent him in his new dominions. Charles 
was able to miderstand that the very life of Spain might 
come to depend upon the integrity of her American empire, 
and that he could do no better service to his country than 
to give that empire every possible opportunity to develop. 
Mendoza ruled iN'ew Spain for about fifteen years, after 
which he was promoted to be viceroy of Peru, where his 
chief distinction was the creation of the code of laws called 
Libro de Tasas, a mingling of the old laws of the Incas and 
of Spanish common law, together with some special laws 
devised by the resident councils. But in New Spain, Men- 
doza gave his chief attention to the stimulation of industries. 
He could not teach the natives much about farming ; but he 
encouraged them in the practice of what they knew; and 
he introduced a fine breed of sheep into the country, so that 
wool might become the clothing of the people, instead of the 
cotton garments which had hitherto been their only wear. 
The cultivation of the silkworm was also favored, and he 
made great advances in the working of mines, and the dis- 
covery and opening of new ones. He co-operated with the 
priests, and they became more useful and active under his 
reign than they had been before, and their missions were 
spread into remote parts of the domain. So far as one can 
judge, these Central American Indians seem to have accepted 
the new rehgion with little difficulty; they perhaps found 
it less exacting in its demands than that which it replaced. 
Nothing in the shape of a religious war is upon the records 
of Spanish rule in this region. Moreover, the Catholic faith 
is calculated to attract people such as these, by the beauty 
and charm of its ceremonies and services. Great and splendid 
churches were built, some of which still remain. The. city 
of Guadalajara, already mentioned, owes to Mendoza its 
importance and prosperity; it is to-day the second Mexican 
city in size, though only of late has it been reached by the 
railway. It took the place of the original town of Espiritu 
Santo, built by Guzman, and sprinkled with the blood of the 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 317 

natives whom he had tortured and slain. It is a sort of 
museum of old Spanish and Aztecan curiosities and customs, 
and its citizens have an old-world flavor about them, most 
agreeable to the sympathetic tourist. Valladolid is another 
city which calls Mendoza its father. This was founded in 
the province of Michoacan, which borders on the Pacific 
Ocean. It contains some of the most beautiful scenery of 
Central America. It was at this period occupied by the 
Tarascan tribe, a race of mountaineers, with the independent 
and courageous proclivities commonly found in natives .of 
highlands. Mendoza, instead of massacring them, bethought 
himself to civilize them with a city; the site for which he 
chose in the midst of the country. The charter for the build- 
ing of this town is still extant, issued by Queen Juana in 
1537. The inhabitants of the chief pueblos in the neighbor- 
hood were summoned to attend the ceremonies, which took 
place in the semi-tropical forest, and miist have made a de- 
lightful picture, full of every variety of color and form; the 
'Indians with their wild manners and vivid decorations, and 
the Spaniards with their glittering armor and priestly vest- 
ments. In the midst stood the royal commissioners, and 
confronting them were the chiefs of the tribes. The royal 
parchment was produced and read aloud to the multitude. 
"Inasmuch as I am informed," writes Queen Juana, "that 
in these lands you have found a most beautiful site toward 
the part of the Chichimecas in the province of Michoacan : 
in which, as it is a place both attractive and convenient, you 
desire to establish and found a city to accommodate sixty or 
more Spanish families and nine officers of religion, for this 
purpose acknowledging the service of God and of the Crown 
of Spain : therefore we hereby ^ve and concede faculty and 
license to the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, to establish 
and people the said city. ' ' The royal lady was not skilful 
in literary expression, but the charter pleased the Indians 
just as well as if it had been composed by the greatest mas- 
ter of style, and was received by the Spaniards with the 
reverence which they paid to all royal commands. The 



SIS HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

parchment was then kissed by the chiefs, in testimony of 
their acquiescence with its authority ; and a mass was cele- 
brated upon an altar which had been erected under a canopy 
of green boughs. Festivities then began, and were kept up 
several days; after which the work of laying out the plan 
of the city in the wilderness was commenced. The sixty 
Spanish families, more or less, were ready to select the lots 
on which their dwellings were to stand, and to set about the 
work of clearing and building. The large emigration of 
Spanish families to New Spain is a somewhat noteworthy 
fact ; inasmuch as there was in their case none of that desire 
for civil and religious liberty that moved our own Pilgrim 
fathers to seek the wilderness. On the contrary, life in 
New Spain was if anything more rigorously controlled than 
in Spain iteelf . The thirst for gold would of course account 
for the emigration of adventurers, and persons whose room, 
in any part of the world, is more desirable to the inhabitants 
of that part than their company. But families do not go 
treasure-hunting; they emigrate to settle down and live 
quietly, in the pursuit of whatever normal industry may 
offer itself. We can only conclude that existence in old 
Spain, except for such as were court favorites, must have 
been very dry and tedious, if nothing worse; from which 
many were glad to take great risks to escape. There was 
no intellectual life there, and everywhere there was a dead 
monotony. The very strangeness of the wilderness was its 
charm for people thus oppressed ; there they could see new 
things, undergo novel experiences, and each fresh day would 
be distinguishable from its predecessors. At all events, the 
number who left Spain, never to return, was very large, and 
many of them must have been persons of a superior stamp, 
precisely because commonplace and worthless people would 
be the least likely to undertake such an enterprise. Had 
Spain treated these first emigrants and their descendants 
with consideration, instead of slighting them and oppressing 
them upon all occasions, New Spain would in time have 
given an illustration of the best results which the Spanish 



THE SEQUEL OF COETES ol9 

nature is capable of attaining. But three centuries of injus- 
tice and enforced ignorance will degrade and brutify the 
most promising human material. 

Valladolid was the name given to the new city — that be- 
ing also the name of Mendoza's birthplace in Spain. It bore 
that name for about three hundred years, after which it was 
changed for that of Morelia, in compliment to the warrior 
and statesman Morelos who was distinguished in the revolu- 
tion. It was a flourishing settlement from the first, both its 
native and its Spanish population being of a superior char- 
acter. The site for the great church was first fixed in the 
pueblo of Tzintzuntzan, where the famous bishop Quiroga, 
originally a lawyer, had dwelt for some years among the 
people, and caused them to forget the cruelties of Guzman. 
The place was afterward changed to Valladolid ; but there 
is a small church in the village of Patzcuaro, where Tzint- 
zuntzan formerly stood, which contains a large and valuable 
picture of the Entombment, said to have been painted by 
Titian. The proper place for such a work of art would of 
course be the great church in Valladolid ; but the villagers 
will not permit it to be removed thither. The latter edifice 
was begun at Patzcuaro, on a magnificent scale; but the 
ground on which it was to be built was found to be insecure, 
owing to its proximity to a lake ; the work was stopped, and 
ultimately it was begun anew upon the present site in Valla- 
dolid. It was nearly two hundred years in building, and 
is considered a finer work of architecture than the church 
in Mexico. 

In the year 1536, Mendoza added to his benefactions by 
causing to be printed the first Mexican book, on a press im- 
ported by himself, and operated by Juan Pablos. He issued 
minted coins in the same year, of silver and copper. There 
were no noticeable events during the rest of his administra- 
tion, and when he departed to assume the reins of govern- 
ment in Peru, he had the distinction of not being followed 
by the curses of his people. He died in Lima in 1552. It 
should not be forgotten that he was the discoverer of what 



320 HISTOET OF STASTSB. AilEEICA 

is known as the Ifcndoza C --dex, a famo'is Aztec manuscript 
which Mendoza sent as a present to Charles V. It never 
reached Mm, however, being captured on the way by a 
French crtriser, and finally turned up, after many years and 
vicieatndes, in the Bodleian Library. The manuscript com 
prises a history of the Aztecs, with notes regarding their 
domestic and civU economy. — So much for the first viceroy 
of New Spain, 

The co-operation of good priests with the civil govern- 
ment was nnqnestionably of great service in bringing New 
Spain into peaceful acquiescence with the Spanish regime. 
All Indians are of an imaginative tendeucy, and prone to 
superstition ; and the miracles of the Catholic saints not only 
foTind ready credence with them, but they engrafted them 
upon fancies of their own, until a very remarkable combioa- 
tion was the result, Uke nothing else iu religious history. 
The early Spanish monks themselves, who spent their lives 
in working for the natives, have undergone a sort of unoffi- 
cial canonization, and tales are told of them which take their 
place along with the accepted marvels and mysteries of 
church history. The large town of Puebla de los Angeles, 
south of Mexico City, is especially a scene of sacred events. 
The tradition goes, that before the Spanish invasion, the 
inhabitants of this region were accustomed to see visions 
and dream dreams of a religious character; the subsequent 
interpretation of which seemed to indicate that Puebla was 
destine<l to become the headquarters of Heaven on earth ; vast 
hosts of heavenly beings were seen, by these Indian clair- 
voyants, marshalled above the site of the town (which was 
close to the pyramid of Cholula, of which we have already 
heard something not markedly angelic). But the place 
was on the great highroad to Mexico City, and it was expe- 
dient that there should V>e established a halting-place some- 
where thereabout, in which travellers could ?jreak the long 
journey between the caj^ital and the coast. This conviction 
fastened itself in the mind of the holy Fray Julian Garces, 
who was the first Tlaxcallan bishop commissioned from 



THE SE/^UEL OF COETES 32i 

Spain ,- Irtit the good man could not decide wMch (H*e of seT- 
eral po^iole sit^ would be moi^ desirable for ids jiopoeed 
town. There is a fnU account of what &^lowed, writtea fay 
a local and contemporary c^onicler, winch maj tiberefore 
be accepted with the confidence always attadiizig to sodi 
docnmentary evidence. Pray Julian, it seems, falling a^eep 
npon a time, or lapsing into a more profound meditatire 
state than nsoal, behdd a visicsi, winch was not all a visicm, 
inasmuch as subsequent events showed tiiat it represented 
a concrete reahty. It seemed to tiie Fray tliat he stood on 
the confines of a delightful and verdant plain, stretching 
away toward the west until it merged in the vast foothills 
of a great volcanic range rising cloudlike against the s^ in 
that direction. Two rivers wound thdr way tiirm^ii tfee 
green fields and forests ; and on all sides tiiere bubbled tarih. 
springs of fresh water, making a ble^ed fertility and lie^xty 
everywhere. The uniformity c£ ihe plain was Ixt^ai by a 
coapie of small hills, crowned with great trees, and fragrant 
with the breath of innumerable rainbow-hued flowers. Long 
did the good bishop gaze upc-n tliis dream-landscape, till 
every fe^ure of it had become impressed upon his meoiory; 
and never had he beheld a spot which so captivated his im- 
agination, and won his love. But pr^ently he became aware 
that he was not alone in the place ; for there appeared two 
shining ones over yonder; he had at first taken tiiem ior 
tvro bright clouds floating in the azure of the sky ; but they 
had softly descended toward the earth, Mid now revealed 
themselves as angels, clad in lustrous white garments, with 
far-extending, snowy pinions, and faces more glorious than 
could be described. They alighted upon the Uttle hills ; and 
the bishop saw that they held hnes and rods in their hands, 
such as are used for the laying-out of the metes and botmds 
of cities ; and he saw these divine surveyors set to work, and 
mark out distances, and set monuments, as if to determine 
the streets and bufldings of a city. After having done these 
things, the angels took fiight, or ascended heavenward, and 
were lost in the empyrean. The bishop awoke, but with his 



322 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

wits about him ; the plain with its hills and other features 
still lay clear and distinct in his memory; and as for the 
angels, he comprehended that they had been sent to apprise 
him that in this spot, and not elsewhere, should be built the 
Puebla de los Angeles. The next thing to do was obviously 
to find the real plain whose spiritual counterpart he had 
seen; and as will readily be anticipated, the bishop met with 
little difficulty in doing this; he had but to ride the road 
between Mexico and Vera Cruz until the very scene rose 
before his delighted eyes. There was the town built, with 
the consent of the Audiencia; and chiefly by the labor of 
the Franciscan friars, whom, however, the natives gladly 
assisted, asking no recompense, but singing cheerful songs 
at their work ; thereby demonstrating to such as had minds 
to learn that the best way to make an Indian useful is not to 
torture him, whip him, or even murder him, but to leave 
him to the inspiration of his natural friendly instincts, and 
he will do better work for nothing than whips could make 
him do. 

A Franciscan, also, was the first archbishop of Mexico 
(though he died a few days before the bull raising him to 
that dignity was received), and the title of Protector of the 
Indians which he bore, he did nothing to disgrace ; though, 
to be sure, his zeal led him to take the step, regretted by 
historians and antiquaries, of collecting and burning every 
copy of an Aztec book or manuscript which he or any of his 
numerous emissaries could lay their hands on.' Into the fire 
they went, all those priceless records, by means of which, 
had Juan de Zumarraga been a little less earnest or a little 
more liberal, we might ere this have discovered more about 
the true nature and origin of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Toltecs 
than we are ever likely to know as it is. The leaves of 
maguey fibre, with their quaint, painted characters, burned 
finely, and the smoke of them rose in the air, while the priest 
looked on with an expression of approval on his honest 
countenance, deeming that with every new bundle added 
to the pile, the benighted heathen were brought so much 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 323 

nearer to their divine home. But alas! what arcana of irre- 
placeable knowledge crackled and spluttered in that confla- 
gration! Perhaps th^ only extant annals of the lost ten 
tribes of Israel perished there ; and what would have been 
the archbishop's consternation, had such an idea been sug- 
gested to him ! While he was imagining that he was doing 
the Lord's work in annihilating the witchcrafts of the 
heathen, he was throwing away a unique opportunity of 
adding an invaluable supplement to the volume of the Holy 
Scriptures! But if such were the fact, the worthy arch- 
bishop lived and died in blessed ignorance of it, as well as ,of 
many other things. The manuscripts being burned, he de- 
voted himself to enlarging the boundaries of his missionary 
field throughout Central America. He was a good man; 
and after all, it is comforting to think that he burned Indian 
books instead of the Indians themselves. 

Another saint of the church in Mexico was Fray Martin 
de Valencia, concerning whose adventures much has been 
written by the scribes of his epoch. His life was spent chiefly 
in the village of Amecameca, not far from the capital, where 
Cortes had halted for reorganization and refreshment before 
marching to the attack upon Montezunja's stronghold. In 
this vicinity Fray Martin had a quiet hermitage, which, says 
the chronicle, was *'most appropriate to prayer, for it is on 
the side of a little mountain, and is a devout hermitage. 
Close to the house is a cave devoted to the service of God, 
and very suitable therefor. In this he was used at certain 
times to give himself up to prayer; at other times he would 
seek a neighboring grove ; and among the trees of the grove 
there was one, remarkable for its size and the great spread 
of its branches, under which it was his pleasure to pray in 
the early morning; and it is said that no sooner had he knelt 
there in prayer, than the tree immediately was visited by 
innumerable birds, whose songs created so delectable a har- 
mony that the holy man was greatly comforted and uphfted 
by it, and redoubled his praises and blessings of the Lord. 
And no sooner did he depart from under this tree, than the 



S24 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

birds likewise flew away from it ; and when at length Fray 
Martin died, the birds never returned to the tree any more. 
These things were observed by many persons who were wont 
to repair thither to hold converse with the man of God ; not 
only did they see the birds come and then fly away as afore- 
said, but they noted that after his death they ceased their 
coming. It is moreover related by a monk of good life that 
on a time there appeared to Fray Martin Saint Francisco 
and Saint Antonio, in the hermitage of Amecameca; who 
finally departed from his presence, leaving him much com- 
forted. ' ' Just outside Amecameca is a hill, rising abruptly 
from the plain, closely covered with a growth of ancient 
trees, some of which rival those of Chapultepec in size, and 
in their venerable aspect. The name of this hill was Monte 
Sacro; and there is good reason to believe that even before 
the arrival of the Spanish priests, it was sacred to the deities 
of the Aztecs; and that the Spaniards adopted it to carry 
on the traditions belonging to its history. Be this however 
as it may, certain is it that it was one of the favorite retreats 
of Fray Martin, for he retired thither at times to an oratory 
which he had made in a cave on the hill, there to give him- 
self up to special exercises of the highest contemplation and 
rigorous penance. "For a long time he continued to give 
instruction to the Indians, especially to the young boys, for 
whom he manifested a singular affection. But at length, 
in the year 1533, he was attacked bj'^ a disease of the lungs, 
which occasioned his death. This event was accompanied 
by very remarkable circumstances. For a few days before 
he was taken ill, -being in Amecameca, he manifested to his 
companion, in a few words, that now was approaching the 
term of his natural life ; and though the companion did not 
at first credit this, yet soon he was convinced thereof by 
beholding the calenture, or delirium of the tropics, which 
overcame the servant of God. As his illness increased, 
he was forced to conduct Fray Martin to the convent of 
Tlalmanalco, where the nature of the illness having mani- 
fested itself, the holy sacraments were administered to him. 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 325 

It was now resolved to take him to the infirmary in Mexico 
City ; and in fact he was borne with much toil on the shoul- 
ders of Indians to the shore of Ayotzinco, two leagues from 
the pueblo ; there he was placed in a canoe, to . continue the 
journey by water. But scarcely had he been placed in the 
canoe than, feeling that even now his hour was come, he 
begged them to carry him back to land. Yielding to his 
entreaties, they disembarked ; and he, although already in 
articulo mortis, put himself upon his knees, and calling 
upon them to commend his soul to God, his spirit was united 
with the Lord ; when his body fell into the arms of his com- 
panion, St. Antonio Ortiz; thus verifying the prophecy 
which he had made many years before, while in Spain, that 
he was to die in St. Antonio's arms, in the middle of a field. 
As soon as the monks became assured of his death, they took 
up his corpse, and with innumerable tears, of their own and 
of the Indians, they gave it sepulture in the church, in bare 
ground, without any precaution to preserve relics so precious. 
But after some time the custodian of the church was apprised 
of the matter, and had the body exhumed; and finding it 
undecayed, as in life, put it in a coffin, and in a separate 
sepulchre, and caused a great stone to be placed above it, 
with a fitting epitaph. The body was at a later time secretly 
moved to the cave of Amecameca, where it awaits the glori- 
ous day of resurrection for saints and of confusion for here- 
tics. Many miracles are told of the saint; but his name will 
ever be glorious in our country, not more on this account 
than because of his great virtues, and above all for the vast 
services rendered by the order which he founded to the 
Mexicans, during more than three hundred years." 

The chronicles of the time are full of similar tales, hav- 
ing a more or less supernatural quality; and there were 
shrines which were visited by pious Indians on errands sim- 
ilar to those which cause devout Catholics to visit Lourdes- 
and Mohammedans to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. 

The second viceroy of New Spain was Don Luis de Ve- 
lasco, who came to the capital in 1550, and remained until 



326 HISTORY 0F SPANISH AMERICA 

his death fourteen years later. He was a worthy and hu- 
mane administrator, and all went well during his incum- 
bency. One of his first acts was to liberate from slavery 
in the mines one hundred and fifty thousand Indians; and 
when it was objected to this measure that the mining indus- 
try would be paralyzed by it, he made the memorable reply 
that the freedom of the Indians was a matter of more im- 
portance than the prosperity of all the mines in the New 
World ; and that the revenues due to the Crown could not 
be of such value as that, in order to obtain them, human 
and divine laws should be violated. He also established a 
tribunal of the Holy Brotherhood, the function of which was 
to protect travellers upon the highways of the country; and 
he founded the Royal University of Mexico, and the Royal 
Hospital, which was designed for the use of natives exclu- 
sively. Native agriculture was favored by him, and the 
Indians were assisted to develop lands hitherto uncultivated ; 
and he promoted the discovery of new mines. The building 
of the Cathedral at Puebla was energetically advanced under 
his directions; and the civil, religious and political founda- 
tions of the state were firmly laid ; so that when he died, in 
1564, he was mourned by Spaniards and Indians alike, and 
the title of Father of New Spain was conferred upon him. 
After his decease, a period of two years was allowed to 
elapse before a new viceroy was appointed; the interval 
being filled by the Audiencia, which did nothing of value, 
but on the other hand — so well was the machinery of gov- 
ernment ordered — contrived to effect very little mischief. 
With Velasco, however, the great New Spanish viceroys 
came to an end, and were followed by a long line of more or 
less inconsiderable personages, who served their time, and 
passed on to Peru, finally either dying where they were, or 
retiring to Spain to digest their gains. ' The Mexican popula- 
tion, native and foreign, developed no marked traits; they 
went on their way with little visible demonstration either of 
content or turbulence. The Church, while it imposed upon 
them its will in matters ecclesiastical, avoided giving them 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 327 

instruction in any branches of worldly or political learning ; it 
was believed that ignorance was the happiest and safest state 
for a people. The Indians appeared resigned to this state 
of things ; the new religion suited them quite as well as had 
that which it supplanted; and for other studies they had no 
proclivity. The Spanish Americans were convinced of the 
uselessness of contending against the power of the Crown, 
and sank gradually into a state of lethargy, from which they 
were aroused only by the universal revolt which marked the 
beginning of the present century. 

The event which arrested the growth of the country was 
the abdication of Charles Y. in 1556. This sovereign, in the 
October of the previous year, had ceded to his son, Philip II. , 
the sovereignty of the dependency of Flanders; and he fol- 
lowed up this step by resigning his kingdom of Castile and 
Aragon, and retiring to end his days in the convent of Yuste. 
This monarch was born in Flanders in 1500, the son of Philip 
of Burgundy by a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; and 
he had been crowned emperor in 1519. After a reign of va- 
rious vicissitudes he had concluded the Peace of Augsburg 
with the Protestants in 1555; this was his last notable act 
as emperor. He was a man of exceptional ability, and of 
many good qualities; but he was weary after wellnigh forty 
years of power, and was glad to shift the burden to younger 
shoulders. His death occurred two years after his abdica- 
tion. Philip was also a man of ability and energy ; but he 
had not the same personal interest in the affairs of his 
American empire that his father had possessed. His em- 
pire extended to all parts of the world; he was king of 
l!Taples and Sicily, Duke of Milan, master of the Nether- 
lands, owner of part of Africa, and of the Philippines, as 
well as monarch of Castile, Aragon and Granada. These 
possessions constituted a vast responsibility, without taking 
into consideration the American territories; and Philip was 
content to derive from the latter the revenues which had 
been furnished in the past, without concerning himself too 
closely with the manner in which, in other respects, they 



338 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

were administered. Instead of selecting men of tried vir- 
tue and ability, personally known to himself, he allowed the 
choice of viceroys to fall into subordinate hands; with the 
inevitable result of lowering the character of the men ap- 
pointed. And the riches of Peru had by this time so far ex- 
ceeded those of New Spain, that the latter took a subordinate 
rank and was less an object of solicitude than the former. 

In 1571 the Inquisition was established in the New World. 
For more than forty years the Church had been endeavoring 
to import this institution from its Spanish home into the col- 
onies. "It is most necessary," declared the Council, "that 
the Holy Office of the Inquisition be extended to this land, 
on account of the commerce with strangers here carried on, 
and of the evil customs brought by them among us ; and be • 
cause of the many corsairs abounding on the coasts, to the 
injury of both natives and Castilians, who, by the grace of 
God, should be kept free from heresy." Accordingly, in 
1570, Don Pedro Moya de Contreras was appointed Inquis- 
itor-General, and his headquarters were fixed in the city of 
Mexico. By a special regulation, Indians were uniformly 
exempted from its jurisdiction, which was applied chiefly to 
heretics of other nations. "Twenty-one pestilent Luther- 
ans" were burned in 1574 in the Quemadero, a place within 
the bounds of the city, anti now included in the Alameda. 
Thereafter the autos-da-fe were of frequent occurrence, 
though, owing mainly to the lack of suitable material, in 
comparison with that obtainable in the Old World, the num- 
bers of those murdered in this manner fell below the Euro- 
pean records. . But the work went steadily on all through 
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, until, early in the 
present era, the Holy Office was suppressed throughout both 
Spain and the Spanish dependencies; and, save for a short 
revival, was finally abolished. It still exists, indeed, as an 
office in Spain, but its activities are directed chiefly against 
heretical literature — or, in other words, against the education 
and enlightenment of the people. 

The chief aim which Philip II. set before himself was the 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 329 

restoration of the Roman Catholic religion in the Protestant 
countries of Europe, and the establishment throughout his 
dominions of a despotic form of government. The conse- 
quence of this policy was the revolt of the Netherlands in 
1566, resulting in their independence in 1579. He annexed 
Portugal ; and formed the league against the Huguenots, in 
spite of which Henry IV. acceded to the French throne in 
1594. It was he who sent the Armada against England 
in 1588; and his death occurred in 1598, deservedly wel- 
comed by the greater part of civilized mankind. His end 
marked also the fall of Spain's greatness, never to be re- 
vived. He was succeeded' by a weaker man, Philip III. • 
but the colonies suffered less than did the home government 
by the consequent political profligacy. The Creoles were be- 
coming gradually solidified into the semblance of a race with 
traits of their own, and the Indians were peaceable and quiet. 
"Whatever menaced the welfare of the mother countrj^ was 
of benefit to the colonies. 

There had been a disastrous eruption of the great moun- 
tain Popocatapetl at the time of the establishment of the 
Inquisition, in 1571; and at the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, Mexico was overwhelmed by an inundation, simi- 
lar to those which had often afflicted the Aztecs in the past. 
The precautions which had been taken against such a catas- 
trophe proved quite ineffectual ; and there was a consultation 
as to what had better be done. The project of removing the 
whole city to the mainland was canvassed ; but the obstacles 
were too great. There was a chain of lakes in the valley of 
Mexico, and it was thought that by diverting the waters 
of the highest of these into another channel, the overflows 
might be prevented. This idea was put into execution ; and 
in 1607, fifteen thousand Indians were set to work sinking 
shafts at intervals, with a view to boring a tunnel, which 
was to be over four miles in length, thirteen feet in depth, 
and eleven feet wide. This huge work was completed in less 
than a year amid great rejoicings ; but the tunnel proved too 
small ; and during a number of years various attempts wer© 



330 HISTOKY OF S^A^'1SH AMERICA 

made to improve it, without much success. In ] S14 ther€ 
occurred another inundation, and tiie mouth of the tunnel 
having been blocked up, the whole citv was under water, 
and so remained for five years. The engineer Martinez, who 
had been pur in prison for blocking up the tunnel, was now 
released in order to open it again ; he did this, and also built 
a great dike, which ameliorated matters to some extent, 
Nothing, however, was really effective, until, in 17Q7, the 
plan of operations was changed, and an open canal was 
made instead of the closed tunnel. The work was finished 
twelve years later; and the result has been that the lake 
of Texcuco is now little more than a large marsh. 

Philip ni. was succeeded by his son Charles II., Avho, 
dying childless in ITOO, prepared the way for the ^va^s of 
the Spanish Succession. The struggle was between France 
and Spain, and lasted from 1701 to 1714. All Europe was 
concerned in it, directly or indirectly, and many fortunes 
depended upon the issue; but the victories of Marlborough 
were decisive, and the death of Joseph, son of Leopold, in 
1711, placed Charl^ on the imperial throne, thus removing 
the chi^ obstacle to the recognition of PhiUp of Anjou. 
The lattsr was accordingly recognized as king of Spain 
under the title of Philip V, The Bourbons continued chi 
the Spanish throne until w^ithin fifty years of the present 
time. Mexico took no part in the war, and the death ol 
Charles II. left the viceroys of Js'ew Spain, tJiree thotisand 
miles away, undisturbed in their place. There was nothing 
noticeable in Mexican affairs except the rather eccentric char- 
acter of the viceroy HevUlagigedo, who acceded in 1787. He 
found the city in a very bad and neglected condition, and 
undertook the work of restoring it to decency. He was of 
an eccentric character, but just in his decisions and distin- 
guished for his energy, and for the severity with which 
he enforced the laws. There are anecdotes concerning him, 
of a kind similar to those which are told of Haroun Alrashid 
and Peter the Great. He was fond of walking amid the 
people in disguise, and finding out for himself the manner 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 331 

of their life, and their private thoughts. Like all reformers, 
he made enemies, and their attacfe finally drove him from 
power, and he returned to Spain in 1794. But the standard 
of order and cleanliness which he enforced continued to 
obtain in Mexico long after his departure. 

A school of engraving was opened by royal decree in 
1779; and so much popular interest was aroused in it, that 
in 1783 the viceroy Galvez, with the royal approval, licensed 
the institution of an academy, called Academia de las K'obles 
Artes de San Carlos de la Nueva Espana. It was opened in 
1785; but was removed later to another building, which it 
still occupies. It contains a fine collection of casts, many 
of which were presented to it by Charles III. , and for many 
years it was under the direct protection of the Spanish gov- 
ernment, and was improved by the ministrations of eminent 
artists sent out by Spain. Humboldt describes the scene 
during his visit, with the spacious halls lighted by lamps, 
and hundreds of youths drawing from the cast, or from life; 
others copying designs for furniture or decoration ; the Cre- 
oles mingling with the Indians, the rich with the poor; for 
access to the privileges of the Institute was free to all. Dur- 
ing the revolution, however, the Academy fell into neglect, 
and it was not until the advent to power of Juarez that it 
was endowed with an annual allowance of thirty-five thou- 
sand dollars, which has sufficed to revive its character; it 
was renamed the National School of Fine Arts. The experi- 
ment is an interesting one; and it may be that the Indians 
are destined to develop a genius for art which their prehis- 
toric performances partly foreshadowed. 

It was in 1799 that Humboldt was in Central America, 
and his descriptions give us some conception of the aspect 
of things at that time. He saw the casting of the bronze 
statue of Charles IV. ; and admired the then new cathedral, 
with its stately towers overlooking the broad plaza in front. 
The Aztec calendar stone, with its strange carvings, had 
been discovered, and a collection of the Aztec manuscripts 
which haA escaped the zeal of the old bishop of the previous 
— 16 



BS2 HISTOST OF S?A>*ISH A2.IERICA 

centnrj- were subjects of tiie learned Gennan*s interested 
scrutiny. Perhaps tlie mctst remarkable antiquarian object, 
howeTTCT, was the statue of the idol Teoyamique, which 
had been originally exhumed from the grave to which the 
conquistador had consigned it. during the viceroyalty of 
SeviUagigedo, w^ho wished to place it in the university: but 
the professors objected on the ground that it would disturb 
the orfliodoxy of the Indian students, and tempt them to fall 
down and w^orship the deity of their ancestors. But Hum- 
hcMt succeeded in inducing the authoritiess to permit it to 
be dug up in order that he might examine it and make 
drawings of it. Stranger images than this have since then 
been discovered in other parts of Central America. 

Chapultepec was occupied by a pleasure-house, erected 
there by the viceroy Gralvez, giving a beautiful view over 
the widespread plain, with the volcano in the distance. An 
unf ailing amusement was provided by the markets, which 
offer many lively and original feamres. The booths of the 
Tnflians are always ornamented with flowers, which, as in 
the days of Montezuma, are greatly loved by the Aztec In- 
dians. Hedges of fresh herbs, a yard in height, surround 
the fndt stalls, constructed of interwoven twigs and leaves, 
with little bunches of flowers inserted at frequent intervals. 
The frtiils are brought to market in small wooden cages, 
ornamented with flowers. In the early dawn of the market 
days, the canals are fllled with the canoes of the Indians, 
loaded high with produce and flowers. Floating gardens. 
as in Aztec times, stiU. beset the marshy shores of the lake, 
in which both vegetables and flowers are cultivated. In 
his examination of the mines of the country, Humboldt 
found the methods of working them unchanged since the six- 
teenth century : and in spite of the emancipation of the In- 
dians from slavery, they were stiU kept at work in these 
underground prisons, carrying the ore up from the depths 
on their backs, or descending the thousands of steps to the 
bottom. Xot only able-bodied men were employed in this 
work, but old persons of seventy, and children of ten years. 



THE SEQUEL OF CORTES 333 

It would seem, therefore, that the Spaniards had solved the 
old problem of how to eat one's cake and have it too; they 
could not only free their slaves, and make it death to prac- 
tice slavery, but they could at the same time keep thousands 
of natives toiling in the mines, apparently for the pure love 
of the thing. 

The period of Mexican decay which began with the acces- 
sion of Philip II. was temporarily suspended under Charles 
III., who came to the Spanish throne in 1759. This son of 
Philip V. was a well-meaning creature, and his subordinates 
co-operated with him in making matters pleasant for Mexico, 
so that his memory is still held in veneration there. The 
Charles who followed him did not inherit his virtues; and 
affairs became difficult once more. The French Revolution 
broke out in his reign, and the owners of colonial empires 
became uneasy, to say the least of it. Charles sent an Italian 
adventurer, Branciforte, to assume the New Spanish vice- 
royalty; he was a man of base qualities, whose advance- 
ment was a job, engineered by the queen's favorite, Grodoi. 
He did his best to enrich himself, in the traditional Spanish 
style, which he seems to have caught without difficulty; 
among other deAdces, he collected money for the erection 
of a bronze statue of the king, which was the more offensive 
to the reluctant subscribers, because the king himself was 
very unpopular. Napoleon now began to make himself the 
master of Europe, and a quarrel between Charles and his son 
Ferdinand gave him a pretext for intervening in Spanish 
affairs. He invaded Spain with an army in 1808, and the 
king fled from Madrid, and for a time meditated seeking ref- 
uge in Mexico, which, in spite of its wrongs, still remained 
faithful. In the sequel, however, Charles abdicated, and 
Ferdinand was entitled to the throne as Ferdinand Y II. ; but 
Napoleon had other views, and forced him to renounce the 
crown in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, 
who had no liking for the dignity, and did not long retain 
it. The Spanish people wanted Joseph for king as little as 
he wanted to reign over them, and in 1813 his rule came 



334 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

to an end. Councils were created to govern during Ferdi- 
nand's involuntary absence. These councils, or juntas, were 
thenceforth to play a large part in the events of the revolu- 
tion; they somewhat resembled the "Continental Congress" 
of our own Revolution. 

After the fall of Napoleon, the Bourbon dynasty was 
re-established in Spain and in France, and Ferdinand VII. 
reappeared in Madrid. But during his exile, the Spaniards 
had found out that it was possible to live otherwise than 
under a despot, and the powers of the king were restricted. 
Branciforte, meanwhile, was obliged to cease his money- 
making industry, and to fly to France, announcing himself 
an adherent of Joseph Bonaparte. This absurd step settled 
his political fate ; his estates were confiscated by the Mexi- 
cans and handed over to the existing authorities. Don Jose 
de Iturrigaray was the next viceroy, and a great improve- 
ment upon his predecessor. Ho stimulated commerce by 
affording it a measure of protection; built the great Puente 
del Rey, or National Bridge, and repaired and improved the 
great highroad between the capital and Vera Cruz. Home 
industries were also advanced under his rule, and he organ- 
ized a militia, besides greatly strengthening the regular 
army. This latter measure, however, aroused apprehen- 
sions in Spain that the viceroy had designs of a political 
character : that he contemplated leading a revolt in Mexico, 
and seizing the crown for himself. Considering what had 
already occurred in South America before this time, such 
suspicions were not surprising. Whether or not they were 
justified is another question, never likely to be determined; 
for before the viceroy could prove his intentions, either for 
good or evil, the palace was besieged, he and his family 
captured, and shut up in the fortress of San Juan de Ulloa ; 
from which he only emerged to be carried for trial to Spain . 
We need not follow him further ; when we see an ox led into 
the slaughter-house, we can form a probable idea of what is 
about to happen. 

For a few months Marshal Garibay filled the place of 



THE SEQUEL' OP CORTES 335 

viceroy; but the central Junta of Spain soon ordered the 
Archbishop of Mexico to assume the reigns of government. 
This act marked the beginning of a new era ; not that the 
Archbishop introduced anything novel, but the discovery 
that a government could be overturned, and the world yet 
continue to revolve upon its axis, so surprised and pleased th^ 
Mexicans that they could not afterward restrain themselves 
from repeating the experiment, as occasion or whim might 
dictate. They were catching the great contagion which, 
sweeping over Europe and North America, had now made its 
way downward to the south; the contagion of human free- 
dom. It displayed itself in many singular shapes, some of 
which wore the guise of despotism more pitiless, if anything, 
than that which had been overthrown; but upon the whole 
the change was wholesome; and when its final stages have 
been reached, something beautiful may be looked for, rising 
transfigured from the debris of mere disorder and revolt. 

Here we will leave Mexico for the present, and betake 
ourselves to another part of the Spanish American domin- 
ions. 



336 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



VII 

THE WEST INDIES 

THE Papal Meridian, drawn with a plentiful lack of 
geographical knowledge, but binding nevertheless 
upon all Catholic countries, gave all the West Indian 
Islands to Spain; and the right of first discovery confirmed 
the gift. Columbus, as we have seen, fancied that he had 
found an archipelago off the East Indian coast, and con- 
formed his nomenclature to that hypothesis. After the 
truth was realized, it was too late to change the names; 
all that could be done was to prefix the qualifying word 
"West." As the West Indies, therefore, this remarkable 
group of islands is still known, though they are distant 
half the circumference of the terraqueous globe from the 
point where Columbus supposed them to be. 

There are upward of two thousand of these islands, all 
but four of which are very small, and the majority of which 
are mere atoms of coral or rock emerging from the sea. 
They have been geographically divided into separate 
groups; to the whole, the name of Antilles has been ac- 
corded, because, in the sixteenth century, it was believed 
that there was a large island, sometimes called Antilla, 
somewhere between Europe and the east ; occupying, in the 
Atlantic Ocean, about the position really held by Australia 
I'n the Pacific. Subdividing this comprehensive group, we 
have the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Haiti and San 
Domingo, Porto (or Puerto) Rico, and Jamaica. These lie 
between latitude 84° and 66°, approximately, and between 
the twenty-third and seventeenth parallels of north latitude. 
East of Porto Rico, which is the easternmost of the Greater 
Antilles, begins the archipelago of the Lesser Antilles, which 
curves round toward the south in a graceful crescent, ending 



THE WEST INDIES 337 

with the comparatively large island of Trinidad, a few miles 
off the north coast of Venezuela. There is another distinct 
group of islands called the Bahamas, situated north of Cuba 
and Haiti, and extending north as far as the latitude of 
Lake Okeechobee in Florida. Three small islands, now be- 
longing to the Dutch, lie a little east of the mouth of the 
Gulf of Venezuela. Barbadoes, though grouped with the 
Lesser Antilles, is really a distinct geographical formation, 
the depth of water between it and its nearest western 
neighbor, St. Vincent, being about six thousand feet. 

Geologists believe that Cuba and the other large islands 
are part of the American continent, organically connected 
with the main; but in past ages a subsidence of the land 
caused the ocean to flow between and sever them therefrom. 
The present Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, were 
then vast plains, with deep lakes or inland seas here and 
there ; the soundings in the Caribbean show vast depths in 
places, going down as far as twenty-seven thousand feet 
in one spot, a hundred miles north of Porto Rico, and often 
attaining depths of twelve thousand and fifteen thousand 
feet. The water within the Bahama group, on the other 
band, is quite shallow, generally less than one hundred feet, 
though here also there are deep crevasses as much as a mile 
deep. The Bahamas are chiefly of coral formation : pillars 
of coral rock, the slow growth of many ages, beginning as 
irregular columns, but spreading out mushroom- wise as they 
near the surface, and then uniting their edges, till islands of 
irregular shape and of various sizes are formed. Under- 
neath these formations, the tides of ocean flow, causing the 
levels of inland ponds or lakes to vary. The crescent of 
jhe Lesser Antilles is of another origin; the islands may 
be regarded as the summits of a chain of mountains. The 
northern section of this group is often referred to by mari- 
ners as the Leeward Islands, while to the southern series 
the corresponding name of Windward Islands is given; 
these names having reference to the direction of the trade 
winds, which blow in the easterly or westerly direction at 



338 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

different times of the year, owing to the atmospheric suction 
caused by the tropic sun. 

Of the two thousand protuberances of one kind or another 
which constitute the Bahamas, some seven hundred may 
fairly be called islands; and of these thirty-one are inhab- 
ited. Their aggregate area is reckoned at about five thou- 
sand four hundred square miles, with a total population of 
fifty thousand persons. The large island of Cuba contains 
forty-eight hundred square miles, and its population has 
numbered as much as sixteen hundred thousand. Jamaica 
is of more than four thousand square miles' area, and its 
population, all but a small percentage of whom are negroes, 
is about seven hundred thousand. Haiti and San Domingo 
(the island is pohtically divided into these two parts) has 
an area of over twenty-eight hundred square miles, and a 
population of over sixteen hundred thousand. There are 
probably more inhabitants in Haiti than in Cuba to-day, 
though the former is not two-thirds the size of the latter. 
Porto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles, with an 
area of three thousand five hundred and fifty miles; but it 
has a population of eight hundred and six thousand persons. 
Of the Lesser Antilles we may say — without going into 
particulars — that their aggregate area is a little under five 
thousand square miles, and their population about twelve 
hundred thousand. Thus the total land surface of the West 
Indies may be put at ninety-five thousand square miles, of 
which eighty-five thousand belong to the Greater Antilles; 
and the total population is five million seven hundred and 
fifty thousand, of which the Greater Antilles contain four 
and a half million. 

The heat of the sun, combined with the peculiar forma- 
tion of the archipelago, produces the phenomenon known as 
the Gulf Stream, which flows eastward and northward with 
gradually diminishing velocity out of the strait between Cuba 
and Florida. Mr. A. K. Fiske, in his admirable monograph 
on "The West Indies," thus accounts for it: "The great 
equatorial current is produced by rapid evaporation under 



THE WEST INDIES 339 

the tropic sun, which draws the cooler and denser water 
from north and south toward the equator. The great ve- 
locity of the earth's surface in its rotation toward the east, 
as the diameter perpendicular to its axis increases, draws 
these two currents from north and south into a single broad 
stream tending west upon the central belt of the globe. As 
this strikes upon the South American coast it is deflected to 
the northwest and thrown upon the barrier of the Antilles. 
Far the greater part of its volume is again deflected north, 
to be spread over the Atlantic; but vast quantities of the 
water make their way among the huge pillars and over 
the vast sills of the Caribbean barrier and rush on, to- be 
forced into the Gulf of Mexico by the swelling mass behind. 
As the movement is continuous, the invading force of equa- 
torial water is turned back by the resisting shores of the 
Gulf and by the volume of cooler water that drains down 
from the Mississippi River, and is driven out again through 
the Florida Straits to form the Gulf Stream. . . . Here it 
is thirty-seven miles wide and twelve hundred feet deep, 
and its volume is two thousand times as great as that of 
the Mississippi emptying into the Gulf the drainage of a 
continent, while it moves with a more rapid flow than the 
greatest rivers of the earth." 

The phenomenon of the trade winds Mr. Fiske explains 
as follows: "The heat of the equatorial zone causes the air to 
expand and rise, and this produces a pressure from north and 
south which draws currents along the surface of the globe 
from the direction of the poles. The rotation of the earth 
toward the east, increasing in surface speed with increase 
of diameter in its latitude, tends to draw these currents 
into an equatorial stream ; but the freedom of expansion and 
movement characteristic of air causes it to join the rising- 
mass where the currents meet in the equatorial belt, and 
to flow back in counter-currents to the north and south. In 
the northern hemisphere the surface currents, drawn from 
the direction of the Arctic zone and deflected to the south- 
west by the revolution of the earth, constitute the northeast 

/' 
/ 
/ 



84:0 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

trade winds. Sweeping over a wide expanse of ocean with- 
out interruption, they become within a certain zone remark- 
ably steady and uniform, though affected more or less by 
changes of season and external atmospheric disturbances. 
. . . The outer verge of the Antilles is in the direct track 
of the trade winds, which have a perceptible effect in tem- 
pering and equalizing their climatic conditions. Incidentally 
they give more rain to the northern and eastern coasts than 
to those bordering on the Caribbean Sea, and bring the rainy 
season, after the first tropical heat of the year, by condensing 
the moisture that rises from the ocean." 

Hurricanes originate in vast eddies in the atmosphere, 
caused by the currents of heated air from the eastern tropic 
regions meeting the returning currents of the trade winds 
moving east or north ; these eddies descend obliquely until 
they strike lower currents rushing in to fill the equatorial 
vacuum. The course of the hurricane is usually across the 
lower part of the Lesser Antilles and so over the larger 
islands, or some of them, its spirals always circling from 
left to right. But these tornadoes are only occasional, and 
do not prevent the beneficent climatic effect of the meteor- 
ological conditions in the "West Indies. There is a rainy 
season from June to the end of September, a cool dry season 
during the winter, and a hot dry season during the spring; 
the greatest heat is never above 98°, and the average of 
summer is about 90°, while in the cool period it goes down 
to 78° in the day time, and 70° or lower at night. These 
are temperatures at sea-level; on the mountains it is much 
cooler; frost has been known on the summit of the higher 
mountains, and at an elevation of from one to two thousand 
feet the night temperature often goes as low as 60°. 

No large animals are native to the West Indies, though 
the remains of gigantic f ossU creatures have been found in 
Cuba and Haiti. Snakes are common on some of the islands, 
and entirely absent from others. Cattle of all kinds have 
been introduced, and some of them, such as hogs and goats, 
flourish exceedingly; horses do fairly well; but cows seem 



THE WEST INDIES 341 

to miss the coolness of their native north. All kinds of 
plants, on the other hand, attain -a triumphant growth, and 
the forests of the islands have an almost appalling luxuri- 
ance. Mangoes, oranges, bananas and other fruits are at 
home in these regions, and most of the vegetables which are 
grown in the north can be raised there. The day is near 
when Cuba may be expected to supply the whole of our 
continent with vegetables during the winter months; the 
fertility of the soil, in that as in other islands, surpasses 
all anticipation. The possibilities of food production of the 
"West Indies have hardly been touched as yet; with proper 
tools and workmen they will be found practically limitless. 
The growing of sugar, coffee and tobacco form but one 
chapter in the story. It may be said of the islands that 
they are as potentially useful as they are beautiful — a mine 
of inexhaustible wealth, as well as a garden of loveliness. 
"With ordinary attention to hygiene, they are as healthful as 
any part of the world ;. and for some diseases their climate 
is a specific. 

Before the advent of the Spaniards they were inhabited 
by two distinct races — the Arawaks, or vegetable feeders, 
and the Caribs, flesh eaters, who are supposed to have come 
from the South American coasts. The Arawaks are re- 
garded as aborigines ; but remains of a different race have 
been found in some of the Hmestone caves, which warrant 
the inference that an older race may have preceded them. 
The Arawaks were a gentle and peaceable people, disinclined 
to war, and a.ble to perform such minor acts of agriculture 
as might be needed to supplement the natural fertility of the 
soil. They spoke various dialects of one language, showing 
that their sojourn must have been a long one. There may 
have been some intermingling of the Maya people from 
Central America and Mexico ; but they were less advanced 
in the arts of life than the latter. A subdivision of the 
Arawaks occupied the Bahamas, and called themselves 
Yucayos, modified by the Spanish tongue into Lucayos. 
They lived by fishing, and were amphibious in their hab- 



34\ HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

its ; the water was warm, and, like the natives of the Pacific 
isles, they delighted to swim and dive in it. Their diving 
was phenomenal, and they foraged among the bases of the 
reefs, under water, as freely as ordinary people do on dry 
land. They went naked, and seldom needed the shelter of 
a roof; when they did, it was soon made out of a few stakes 
and palm leaves. Fish nets they made out of cotton fibre; 
their beds were of the same material and were called ham- 
acas, whence our word hammocks. Their weapons were 
bows and arrows, and darts with fish-bone heads ; their ves- 
sels were large canoes made by hollowing-out the trunks of 
the ceiba trees. Their color was a reddish brown, and their 
stature short but sturdy. They compressed the heads of the 
children in infancy, so that the front of the skull was flat- 
tened, and inclined backward from the brows. 

The Cubans, of the same race, called themselves Ce- 
buynes, and were of the same inoffensive disposition as the 
Lucayos ; but owing to the rich soil of Cuba, which did not 
exist in the Bahamas, they were agriculturists, raising maize 
and manioc J they manufactured cotton fabrics, and pottery 
of a rude description. Their huts were large, and contained 
several families. They smoked tobacco, which even then 
was of excellent quality in Cuba, and they had a liking for 
personal ornament which did not obtain among the more 
primitive natives of the Bahamas. The people of Jamaica 
were of a similar kind, and all alike were unwarlike. Haiti 
was as populous when discovered as it is now ; it was divided 
into five parts, each with its cacique; but in the interior 
there was a mountainous region inhabited by Caribs, and 
said to be rich in gold. These Caribs occasionally came 
down from their heights and attacked the peaceful Arawaks. 
The religion of all the Arawaks was a worship of natural 
forces, and they seem to have had some conception of a su- 
preme deity. Borinquen, as Porto Rico was called by the 
natives, was partly inhabited by Arawaks, and partly by 
Caribs, who had advanced thus far in their invasion from 
the south. The Lesser Antilles were entirely under the 



THE WEST INDIES 343 

sway of the latter, who were taller and of lighter color than 
the Arawaks, and of an aggressive and sanguinary temper; 
they painted their faces and bodies to inspire terror, and 
they ate flesh ; often it was the flesh of human beings, which 
they devoured either because it was easier to get on the 
islands than any other kind, or because the practice was 
connected in some way with their religious beliefs. They 
dressed in jingling necklaces and girdles of bone and shells, 
with bunches of feathers at available points. These people 
would rather fight than eat, fond as they were of the latter 
indulgence; and the Spaniards found them such sturdy foes, 
that they finally gave up the attempt to oust them from their 
crescent of islets. They spoke two languages, one derived 
from their mothers, who were generally women stolen from 
the Arawaks, and the other that of the Carib race proper, 
which was allied to the races of the main. In addition to the 
arts practiced by the Arawaks, they made ornaments out of 
metal, kindled fires by rubbing two sticks together, and 
made inscriptions on stone. Altogether they were more 
alert in mind as well as in body than their neighbors the 
vegetarians, and their conception of religion seems to have 
been somewhat higher: they built altars to the Unknown 
God. Their houses resembled the wigwams of our northern 
Indians; they were chaste and cleanly in their lives, and 
if it were not for their cannibal propensities, and their ad- 
diction to fighting, they might be regarded as a very decent 
and estimable race. Tt is needless to say that never, at their 
worst, did they compare with the bloodthirsty and licentious 
Spaniards. 

"We have already noticed the blighting effects of Spanish 
domination. Coming with the thirst for gold already devel- 
oped, their first and chief thought was to obtain it; and to 
that end they sought the mines. But they would not do the 
work of mining themselves; they compelled the Arawaks 
to do it for them; and as the latter were disinclined and 
unaccustomed to such toil, and incapable of supporting it, 
they died by thousands, and other thousands of them com- 



344 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

mitted suicide rather than submit to the atrocious cruelties 
of their new masters. "To these quiet lambs," says Las 
Casas in his "Relacion," "endued with such blessed quali- 
ties, came the Spaniards like most cruel tigers, wolves and 
lions, enraged with sharp and tedious hunger; minding noth- 
ing else but the slaughter of these unfortunate wretches, 
whom with divers kinds of torment, neither seen nor heard 
of before, they have cruelly and inhumanly butchered ; that 
of three million people which Hispaniola itself did contain, 
there are left remaining scarce three hundred persons." 
(This calculation is perhaps exaggerated; there were not 
many more inhabitants in all the Greater Antilles than Las 
Casas gives to the one island alone.) — "And for the island 
of Cuba, which contains as much ground in length as from 
Valladolid to Rome" — the island is about nine hundred miles 
long — "it lies wholly untilled and ruined. The islands of 
St. John" (Porto Rico) "and Jamaica lie waste and deso- 
late. The Lucaya Islands" (Bahamas), "neighboring toward 
the north upon Cuba and Hispaniola, being above sixty or 
thereabout — with those islands which are vulgarly called 
the islands of the giants, of which that which is the least 
fertile is more fruitful than the king of Spain's garden at 
Seville, being situate in a pure and temperate air, are now 
totally unpeopled and destroyed, the inhabitants thereof, 
amounting to about five hundred thousand souls, partly 
killed, and partly forced away to work in other places; so 
that there going a ship to those parts, to glean the remain- 
der of those distressed wretches, there could be found no 
more than eleven men." 

As fast as the population of one island was exhausted, 
the Spaniards proceeded to depopulate another; until at 
length they arrived at the Lesser Antilles, and were checked 
there by the indomitable Caribs. But labor must be had; 
and opportunely, the African slave-trade came into exist- 
ence. The African coast belonged to Portugal, according 
to the arrangement; but though the Spaniards could not 
legally follow the business, there were others who could 



THE WEST INDIES 345 

and did; notably the English, under the lead of Sir John 
Hawkins, who made a fortune by importing cargoes of these 
creatures, who were not at that time regarded by any one as 
being real human beings with souls; but a sort of connecting 
link between men and beasts, devoid of all natural rights, 
except the right to be worked to death without recompense. 
But they did not die so readily as the Arawaks, and were 
therefore in great demand; and as many as four thousand 
of them were annually imported to the West Indies. So the 
mining industry went on, until the mines began to show signs 
of exhaustion, and the South American continent, rather 
than the islands, came to be looked to as the true hunting- 
ground for the precious metals. 

But the slaves were on hand, and they must work at 
something. Columbus had brought sugar-cane from the. 
Cape Verde Islands, and it had taken to its new habitat 
with excellent results. Sugar had hitherto been a curious 
luxury in Europe, selling at an extravagant price, like some 
rare drug; but in the West Indies it could be produced by 
the cargo, and it soon became evident that fortune were 
to be made out of it even more quickly than out of gold. 
Tobacco was also becoming exceedingly popular in Europe; 
and cotton was a profitable industry. Here, then, was work 
for the negroes; and in order to get the full value of their 
riches, the Spaniards attempted to monopolize the trade in 
all these staples. This, Uke most of the rest of their colonial 
history, is an illustration of the result of killing the goose 
with the golden eggs. Had they opened the trade, they 
might have got by far the best part of it without trouble, 
and amassed wealth enough to satisfy even their greed ; but 
in trying to keep all other nations out, they opened the door 
to illicit traffic of all kinds, whereby they finally lost every- 
thing. England, France and Holland could sail the seas 
as well as Spain, and they delighted to harass the Spanish 
trade, to swoop down upon her colonies, and to intercept her 
ships bearing gold and produce. Spain had a large fleet, 
but it was of course utterly inadequate to cope with such 



346 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

foes, operating over so vast a space. Year by year, as the 
struggle went on, they lost fully half of each year's gains, 
either by capture or destruction. In a short time, smuggling 
and piracy became recognized industries in the Caribbean. 
Moreover, although Spain was conceded to be the legal pos- 
sessor of the whole archipelago, the knowledge acquired of 
its value by the pirates and corsairs led to Spanish rights 
being defied by other nations, and, in times of war (which 
were of constant occurrence in those ages), to the capturing 
of islands by the belligerents. And most of the money 
which the West Indies brought to Spain was spent in the 
effort to maintain her hold upon them. The attempt was 
temporarily successful as regarded the Greater Antilles; 
though later Spain lost both Haiti and Jamaica, and finallj'^, 
as we of to-day have seen, Cuba and Porto Rico. Long 
before the end of the coming century, the beautiful islands 
which she oppressed and strangled so long will have shown 
the world of what prodigies they are capable. 

Piracy was the natural sequel of unlicensed trading with 
the settlers and natives ; when the latter did not feel inclined 
to purchase or exchange the goods the traders offered them, 
the traders took what they wanted, leaving the equivalent, 
or not, as might seem most expedient. The French corsairs 
led the way in these transactions ; and gradually an irregular 
warfare arose which had the effect of rendering all property 
insecure, and all lives imperilled. In 1538, and again in 
1554, Havana was attacked, burned and looted. The Span- 
iards built forts, many of which still remain, and they 
patrolled the seas with their ships; but the destruction of 
their trade went on. The really effective settlers kept pull- 
ing up their stakes and departing for more congenial fields 
on the mainland; and the Island colonies were much re- 
duced. In 1562 Hawkins began the series of voyages which 
.made him rich, and a member of Parliament; he brought 
slaves from Africa, and took back cargoes of sugar and other 
commodities which commanded a good price in European 
markets. Francis Drake accompanied him on his third 



THE WEST INDIES 347 

voyage, being then a youth of twenty; the Spaniards sur- 
prised them while refitting at Vera Cruz, and they escaped 
with only one of their five ships. Drake, in after years, 
amply revenged himself for this mishap. He was the 
scourge of Spain in the Caribbean and on the Pacific coast 
for many years, and died at last with his armor on in Porto 
Bello. By the close of the sixteenth century, Spain was 
in evil case ; Porto Rico was no longer inhabited, and the 
three other large islands were suffering for lack of labor, 
not to speak of the hostile corsairs and privateers. The era 
of discovery and conquest had not ended so brilliantly as it 
had promised to do when it began. 

England, being now Protestant, ignored the validity of 
the Papal gift to Spain; and France did the same, because 
she and Spain were at war. The Netherlands, after shaking 
off the Spanish yoke, were more than ready to take a hand 
in the game. Portugal claimed Brazil, and Spain could not 
say her nay. But the mainland still was Spain's; that is 
to say, practically the whole American continent, south 
and north; for the English colonies had not yet begun. 
But England got a foothold in Guiana before the end of 
the century, and Holland established her Dutch West India 
Company in 1621. She also seized the small islands off the 
Gulf of Venezuela in 1634. Ten years before the English 
had taken St. Kitts and ITevis; and circumstances caused 
them to divide the former with the French. Later the mixed 
colony was driven out by Spain, and when the time came 
to return, England and France were at war. This is an 
instance of the inextricable tangle of ownerships which 
afflicted many of the islaiids of the archipelago for many 
years. All the European powers that were interested in 
them were chronically by the ears with one another; some- 
times they would change sides, like partners in a cotillion ; 
from year to year it was impossible to predict who would 
be foes and who friends next. One effect of the scramble 
and confusion was, that all the available islands became 
known; the rights of the natives were of course ignored 



348 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

throughout, and they were exceedingly lucky if they escaped 
with their lives. In fact, this luck was denied them; and 
to-day there remains but a handful of the Caribs in one of 
the Lesser Antilles, and no Arawaks at all. The Bahamas 
had the best of the situation at this period ; nobody seemed 
to care for them ; indeed they were practically depopulated, 
and there was neither gold nor other valuable produce to 
be had there. But the English made a settlement in New 
Providence about 1630, though they did not hold on to it at 
the time, nor was it until late in the eighteenth century that 
they finally took possession. Barbadoes, which had never 
really been discovered by the Spaniards, was taken by the 
English as far back as 1605, and was colonized twenty years 
afterward ; and the English have held the place undisturbed 
ever since. Tobago was also appropriated by England, but 
Trinidad remained with Spain until much later. Jamaica 
had been reduced to a bloodstained wilderness by Spain early 
in the seventeenth century, and there were hardly three thou- 
sand inhabitants left in it, including fifteen hundred slaves. 
In 1655, Cromwell being then ruler of England, a fleet under 
Admiral Penn captured the island ; the Spanish residents fled 
to Cuba, and the negroes took to the woods and mountains, 
where their descendeuts still remain unconquered under 
the name of Maroons — which being interpreted is mountain- 
dwellers. A rabble of English reprobates and Jews went 
out to colonize the place. The island of St. Thomas had 
been a stronghold of pirates, but was taken by a Danish 
trading company, and the two other Danish Islands were 
purchased by Denmark afterward. But altogether this story 
of the fight for the West Indies is a strange and stirring one, 
crowded with vicissitudes, and full of the wildest romance, 
and the most savage tragedies and dramatic passages. The 
whole truth of what happened in these two centuries can 
never be known ; but what we do know is stimulating enough, 
and in fact it has given a color to English romantic fiction 
which is perceptible even yet. 

It was in the seventeenth century that the buccaneers 



THE WEST INDIES 349 

enjoyed their extraordinary predominance. Their name is 
derived from a peaceable verb or noun, referring to the 
process of curing meat by smoking it. This was first prac- 
ticed by the natives, and from them the wandering mari- 
ners, with the quickness of their kind, caught it up; the 
French language then stepped in and called one who pre- 
pared meat by smoking, "boucanier," and the English fin- 
ished the matter by Englishing it into buccaneer. But it 
was not long before the last thing that any one thought of 
in speaking of these wild outlaws was their meat-smoking 
habits. They were much too famous for other things. 

The thing began quite naturally, and without premedi- 
tation. The sea was full of roving vessels, crowded with 
crews most of whom had no home but salt water, and no 
moral or other restraints of any kind. Knots of these sav- 
age mariners would go ashore to hunt hogs and have fun 
with the natives; and many of them found the environment 
so agreeable that they never rejoined their ships. They 
might or might not be susceptible to the delicious beauty 
of the scenery; but they no doubt appreciated the charms 
of the soft and equable climate, and the voluptuous ease of 
life, which no labor was needed to support ; or if any labor 
was to be done, were not the natives there to do it? If they 
wanted a wife, there was a dusky woman to bear and rear 
their children, and attend to their domestic comforts. And 
then, if they wanted (as of course nearly all of them did) to 
amass riches, with the vague idea of some time going home 
to spend it, there were Spanish galleons to be captured, and 
colonies to be raided. It was "camping-out" in excelsis, 
Vv'ith robbery and piracy thrown in as condiments. 

The first considerable settlement of them got together in 
Tortugas, off the northwest of Haiti, and they gradually 
collected quite a fleet of small vessels ; and being attacked 
by Spaniards, they entered upon a war of reprisals . A sort 
of Freemasonry was established among them, which their 
common hatred of the Spaniards cemented, and they called 
themselves the Brethren of the Coast. Thev were also 



.150 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

known as freebooters, meaning free-plunderers, whicli was 
metamorphosed by the Spanish into Flibustier, from which 
we get our word filibuster. But under whatever name they 
figure, they made their mark, and a very bloody one it was; 
though one cannot help feeling a great deal of sympathy 
with outlaws so picturesque and audacious. 

When France attacked Haiti, in 1641, using Tortugas 
as a base, the buccaneers helped her; when Spain got pos- 
session of Tortugas, in 1654, the buccaneers became allies 
of the English in their expedition against Jamaica; and 
when Penn's fleet took the island, they established them- 
selves at Port Royal, on the spit of land guarding the en- 
trance of Kingston Harbor. Port Royal then became a 
place such as was never known in history before or since; 
a day spent there would have been as full of adventure and 
danger as a dozen ordinary lifetimes. The buccaneers were 
countenanced by the English owing to their hostility to Spain. 
They also had other gathering places, in the Bahamas and 
elsewhere ; and men arose who were regarded as their lead- 
ers. To be a leader of such a gang must have required 
quahties of no common sort. Montbar, a Frenchman, was 
one of them, and Lolonois was another. In Jamaica, Henry 
Morgan was their most famous captain; he was a Welsh- 
man, and he was in the habit of plundering cities on the 
main, and bringing his spoils to Port Royal. All went well 
until war between Spain and England ceased ; and Morgan's 
exploit of burning the city of Panama was the last notable 
deed accredited to the Caribbean buccaneers. Morgan made 
his peace with the authorities, and lived to be twice Acting 
Governor of Jamaica; Charles II. bestowed upon him the 
honor of knighthood, and he died rich and at peace with 
the world. 

The buccaneers were succeeded in the next century by 
pirates pure and simple, who were their natural heirs; for 
when there came to be great difficulty (owing to the treaties 
of peace and declarations of war between various nations 
getting mixed up) in knowing who your enemy was, the 



THE WEST INDIES 351 

time was come for men who were enemies of all alike. The 
most notorious and picturesque of these blackguards was 
Edward Teach, called Captain Blackboard; no pirate who 
so thoroughly filled the role as he did has ever been known. 
He was the terror of the seas to all who sailed upon them* 
while he lived; and he died in character, in a fight with a 
British warship. They cut off his head, and fixed it at the 
end of the bowsprit. A description of him by one who had 
the pleasure of his personal acquaintance runs as follows: 
"His beard was of extravagant length; as to breadth, it 
came up to his eyes. He was accustomed to twist it with 
ribbons, in small tails, after the manner of our Ramile wigs, 
and turn them about his ears. In time of action he wore a 
sHng over his shoulders, with three brace of pistols hanging 
in holsters like bandeHers, and stuck lighted matches under 
his hat, which, appearing on each side of his face, his eyes 
naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such 
a figure that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury from 
hell to look more frightful." His deeds were quite as terri- 
ble as his looks, and there is no feat of daring or brutality 
which he did not rival in his own career. He was the hus- 
band of as many wives as a Mormon elder of the old style; 
and the number of men he had killed with his own hand he 
could not himself have told within a score or so. Another 
great pirate was Bartholomew Roberts, who was the espe- 
cial foe of Dutchmen, and who has the unique distinction of 
having drawn up a set of very stringent and estimable rules 
for the discipline of his crews. They were not to play games 
for money; they were to turn in at eight o'clock; they were 
to have no women or boys on board; they were to keep their 
weapons clean, and they were to be shot if they attempted to 
desert. This code sheds an unexpected side-light upon the 
pirating industry. As for Captain Kidd, the best known of 
all pirates, not so much on account of what he "did, as he 
sailed," as by reason of the iniquitous trial which resulted 
in his condemnation, he began his career as a putter-down of 
piracy in the Caribbean ; but he seems to have found in the 



352 HISTOEY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

vice something first to eadare, then to pity, and finally to 
embrace; and though his exploits in piracy were not per- 
formed in the archipelago, their fame is wide enough, and 
the amount of treasure he is alleged to have buried would 
pay the English debt. 

After much confused fighting for possession of various 
islands between the belligerents, a determined struggle be- 
gan between England and France in 1756, and lasted seven 
years. At the outset, France held the southern Caribbees, 
except Barbadoes and Trinidad ; three years after war broke 
out, the English got possession of Guadeloupe, which had 
previously been French, and kept hold of it till the war was 
over. In 1762 Rodney, the famous English admiral, took a 
fleet of eighteen ships from Barbadoes to Martinique, and 
captured that island, Granada, Tobago, St. Vincent and St. 
Lucia. Spain siding with France, Admiral Pococke laid 
siege to Havana aud captured it; which brought about 
peace the following year. By its terms, Cuba was returned 
to Spain in exchange for Florida, and the smaller islands 
were divided between England and France. 

But, in 1778, war broke out anew, owing to the alliance 
between France and the United States, then fighting Eng- 
land for their liberty. English and French fleets seized 
islands in the Lesser Antilles, belonging to each other ; and 
Count de Grasse came over with a large fleet, and captured 
Granada and St. Vincent, before the English, under Ad- 
miral Byron, could arrive upon the scene. Things did not 
go well with the latter, and Rodney, though no friend of the 
then administration, was sent to supersede Byron and save 
the day. On his way out he captured a Spanish squadron 
off Cape Finisterre— for Spain was again on the wrong side 
of the scrape — and also destroyed a force at Cape St. Vin- 
cent; after sending part of his fleet to the Mediterranean, 
he arrived at St. Lucia in March, 1780. Here he tried to 
bring on a fight with a French fleet, double the size of his 
own, under Count de Guichen ; but the count would not en- 
gage. Later in the year Holland got caught in the trouble. 



THE WEST INDIES 353 

owing to her support of the United States, and Rodney im- 
proved the opportunity to seize the Dutch island of St. Eu- 
statius. This, however, did not stand, because there were 
EngHsh interests involved in the trade of St. Eustatius; and 
Rodney was in trouble with his home authorities in conse- 
quence. He came home, sick and angry, in 1781. Now 
fortune turned for a while against England, which was 
beaten in the United States, and was in danger of losing 
her "West Indian acquisitions owing to the activity of De 
Grasse. There was noticing for it but to send out Rodney 
once more ; he might not be agreeable to the English cabi- 
net, but he could fight Frenchmen. He overtook the French 
fleet off Dominica, split it in two, and completely defeated 
it; for which, in spite of his enemies, he was made Lord 
Rodney wiih a pension of two thousand pounds. By the 
peace which followed, England got back all her islands 
except Tobago; but when war once more began, ten years 
later, she recaptured this, captured Martinique, St. Lucia 
and Guadeloupe, and took Trinidad from Spain, which was 
still fighting on the French side. England was now every- / 
where victorious; and, in 1814, a peace was made by which j 
she was allowed to keep Trinidad and St. Lucia, but Curacoa i 
was restored to the Dutch. During the war, in 1805, Nelson 
had swept through the Caribbean in pursuit of the French, 
whom he chased to Spain and defeated at Trafalgar. It 
should not be forgotten, too, that Haiti gained its independ- 
ence in 1801, though the eastern part remained under French 
control till 1808, when Spain, with the help of England, got 
possession of it, and retained it till the revolution of 1821, 
which resulted in the establishment of an independent 
republic. 

The division of the islands was now as follows: Spain 
kept Cuba and Porto Rico; Haiti and San Domingo were 
republics of negroes; Jamaica, the Bahamas and most of the 
Lesser Antilles were England's; France had Guadeloupe, 
Martinique, and other small islands; Holland kept Curacoa, 
Aruba, Buen Ayre, St. Eustatius and a few more; Denmark 



364 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

retained what she had had from the first ; and so things re- 
mained until, in 1898, the war between Spain and the United 
States banished the former power from American waters 
forever. 

The attempt to abolish the African slave-trade in the 
"West Indies was begun, late in the eighteenth century, by 
such men as Wilberf orce and Clarkson ; but it was not until 
long after that it ceased not only in name but in reality. 
The slaves of Enghshmen were at this time worse treated 
than those of the Spaniards, for the reason that English 
owners in Jamaica were non-residents, and their overseers 
acted without restraint ; whereas the Spaniards actually lived 
on their plantations, and came into relations with their slaves 
more or less resembUng those between our own Southern 
planters and their bondmen. Denmark, Great Britain, 
France, Holland, and finally Spain issued decrees abolish- 
ing the slave-trade, between the years 1792 and 1820; but 
it is estimated that half a million blacks were imported 
illicitly after the prohibition. The next step was to put 
an end to slavery itself; but this was regarded as Utopian. 
The emancipation in Haiti, however, caused agitation among 
slaves in the other islands, which was increased by the radi- 
cal influence of missionaries. But it was not until 1833 that 
the British Parliament declared that slavery in British col- 
onies must end on the first of August of the following year. 
France followed this example fourteen years later. Den- 
mark freed her slaves about the same time. Holland did 
not come into line until 1863, when a partial measure of re- 
lief was introduced, and complete emancipation was granted 
in 1873. Spanish slaves in Porto Rico were freed the same 
year; but those in Cuba were not emancipated till 1886. 
The effect of these proceedings differed according to the 
local circumstances in various islands. It practically ruined 
the sugar business in Jamaica, and to a less extent Trinidad 
and Dominica suffered; in Barbadoes, where the free ne- 
groes had to work or starve, owing to the fact that all the 
land was under white ownership, there was little trouble. 



THE WEST INDIES 355 

French islands were similarly affected, but suffered less, on 
account of the actual residence of many of the French plant- 
ers on their plantations ; and in the Spanish islands, where 
there were more white than black inhabitants, little incon- 
venience was felt. But the great problem of the West In- 
dies is the existence there of millions of negroes, who cannot, 
in the majority of cases, be forced to work, and who consti- 
tute an idle and menacing element of vast extent throughout 
the archipelago. The example of Haiti shows the hideous 
results of allowing the negroes to take care of themselves. 
In Jamaica, there are more than sixty negroes for every 
white man, and the island, owing in part to the bounty on 
other kinds of sugar, is practically gone to waste. The 
mooted project of our taking it in exchange from England 
for our newly-acquired East Indian possessions cannot be 
too strongly condemned. The negroes cannot be deported, 
and they are by no means dying out — quite the contraiy; 
so that unless some means of dealing with the difficulty be 
found, they will in time crowd out the whites by regular 
natural increase. The outlook, in this direction, is not 
reassuring. 

Let us now look a little more closely at the character 
and condition of some of the more important islands. Cuba, 
as has been remarked, is about nine hundred miles in length, 
following the curve of its dorsal ridge, though between lati- 
tudes it is a hundred and forty miles less. Its width varies 
from one hundred and twenty-five miles to forty. It con- 
tains about forty-five thousand square miles of territory 
within its proper boundaries, and two thousand more in the 
adjoining Isle of Pines on the south coast. The geological 
formation is peculiar; a calcareous shell overlies a substra- 
tum of tertiary rocks, which in some places projects through 
the crust. The mountain range of the Sierra Maestra runs 
along the southern coast of the province of Santiago de Cuba, 
about on the twentieth parallel of north latitude, ascending 
in the Pico de Turquino to a height of over eight thousand 
feet. ITorth and west of this mountainous region is a de- 
— 16 



356 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

pression, through which flows the river Cauto with its tribu- 
taries. Beyond this broad valley, still north and west, is a 
region of detached mountains and gorges ; but they prevail 
chiefly aloog the north coast, the south being lower, with 
fertile plains and numerous minor rivers. This brings us to 
about the centre of the island, where the breadth is scarcely 
seventy-five miles, and across which a trail, or trocha, 
formerly took its course; the region is low, with bordering 
marshes. Thence, proceeding west, there are more irregu- 
lar mountains, though seldom rising higher than a thousand 
feet ; they reach the southern coast near the present town of 
Trinidad. Beyond this, the southern coast again becomes 
low, until beyond the fine harbor of Cienfuegos it sinks into 
marshes. The northern coast still rises in mountainous ele- 
vations toward Havana, on the north, and these elevations 
continue along the western extremity of the island, like a 
backbone. But the final tongue of western land, from the 
town of San Julian to Cape San Antonio, is marshy. 

The rivers are small; the largest, Rio Cauto, being but 
one hundred and thirty miles in length. Its course is nearly 
east and west, and it empties into the Gulf of Guacanabo. 
The other large river is Sagua La Grande, on the north 
coast, which reaches the sea on the eightieth meridian. The 
majority of the rivers vary according to the season in the 
amount of water they discharge; and owing to the calca- 
reous shell overlying the rock, and forming enormous cav- 
ernous regions underground, many of these streams disap- 
pear during their course, sometimes to reappear further on, 
l3ut often vanishing completely, and seeking the sea by a 
subterranean passage. There are several lakes in different 
places, but fewer than would be the case but for these under- 
ground leakages. Large lagoons, however, exist in the low- 
lands along the coast, abounding in alligators and turtles. 
A great part of the Cuban coast is fringed with reefs of coral 
formation ; the most considerable of these is on the north 
coast, west of Nue vitas, where a series of great cayos stretch 
along in a northwesterly direction, at a distance of from 




GUAYAQUIL HARBOR, ECUADOR 




VALPARAISO 



Spanish America^ 



THE WESl INDIES 357 

ten to twenty miles from the real shore. The total length of 
this series of cayos is about one hundred and fifty miles, 
with an average breadth of ten miles. Sma.ller islets and 
broken reefs lie along the greater part of the northern shore. 
Off the southern coast there is an immense quantity of small 
islets, spreading out over an area about one hundred miles 
in width. By far the largest of these is the Isle of Pines, 
already mentioned, which has several small hills upon it. 
There is a great growth of pines there — a tree found nowhere 
else in the West Indies. The navigation of the Cuban coast 
is dangerous, but there are several fine harbors, such as 
Bahia Honda, Cabaiias,, Mariel, Havana, Matanzas, Car- 
denas, Nuevitas, Nipe and Malaguete on the north; and on 
the south, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, and Cienfuegos. 
Very little is known of the gold-producing capabilities 
of Cuba. Not much gold has been discovered, and such 
beds as were found were not of great extent. Silver and 
copper have been found, but in no sensational quantity. 
Iron also exists, but to what extent is unknown. Good 
bituminous coal is present in many places, and deposits of 
pitch. Slate quarries are worked near Havana, and marble 
and jasper are also found. What is first required is thorough 
exploration and scientific surveys; almost nothing is yet 
known of the Cuban interior; there are twenty million acres 
of unclaimed land, and thirteen million acres of it are virgin 
forest, abounding in mahogany and ebony and other precious 
woods. Fruits, farinaceous plants, and maize are abundant, 
and many spices also grow in the forests. The soil is of 
enormous richness, and hospitable to all manner of exotics. 
Of animals there are few; the raccoon was indigenous; dogs 
and cats were brought by the Spaniards, and there are also 
European deer. There are alligators or caimans, many kinds 
of land lizards, snakes, one at least of which is venomous; 
scorpions and tarantulas, unpleasant companions, but not 
so deadly as in Central America. There are ants of all kinds 
and in vast quantities, and another troublesome inhabitant 
is the land crab, which is large and of a restless and investi- 



358 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

gating disposition. There are about two hundred species of 
birds, and of these many are humming-birds. The vulture 
and turkey buzzard are numerous, and are not molested, 
on account of their activity as scavengers. The climate is 
delightful except during the height of the rainy season, and 
is healthy in the upland regions at all times. The rainy 
season, which is also the warm period, lasts from May to 
October; it is dry and comparatively cool from November to 
April. It does not rain heavily for more than a part of the 
wet season, and there are occasional showers during the dry 
season. The heaviest rains are on the northeast coast. The 
heat seldom is as high as 90°, and in winter the temperature 
sinks as low as 58°. With proper drainage, there would be 
no unhealthy districts in Cuba, and the higher ground is 
always healthy. In addition to the political divisions of 
fehe island, it is also referred to in common speech by names 
applied to the various component regions. Thus the Vuelta 
Aba jo is the end west from Havana; from Havana east to 
Santa Clara is Vuelta Arriba; next to this is the Cinco Villas 
section ; and the part lying east of Puerto Principe is Tierra 
Adentro. 

The town of Havana was founded in 1519, and its cathe- 
dral was built in 1714. Velasquez had made a settlement 
near Baracoa in 1511; but Hernando de Soto was the first 
royal governor, appointed in 1538. He fortified Havana 
before setting out on his expedition to the coast of the Gulf 
of Mexico. Both the Morro and the Castillo de la Punta 
were built before the seventeenth century, and often strength- 
ened afterward. During the seventeenth and most of the 
eighteenth centuries there was but little progress in the col- 
ony; cattle raising was the chief industry up to 1580, when 
tobacco and sugar were cultivated; but the buccaneers so 
paralyzed trade that the prosperity of these industries, des- 
tined to be so great, was slow in coming. Still more destruc- 
tive to well-being of an industrial or commercial sort was 
Spain's own stifling policy, and the wholesale robbery car- 
ried on by the officials sent from Spain to govern the island. 



THE WEST INDIES 359 

After the Seven Years' "War, matters began to mend, estates 
were taken up, and the discovery was made that fortunes 
were to be won by their cultivation. The white population 
was increased, many Spanish peasants being induced to emi- 
grate. Governor Don Luis Las Casas, appointed in 1790, 
made improvements in trade and industry, and the Count of 
Santa Clara, who followed him, strengthened the defences 
of the ports. The revolution in Haiti caused numbers of 
Frenchmen from that island to take up their residence in 
Cuba, with beneficial results. "When, in 1808, Napoleon 
denied to Ferdinand the right to ascend the Spanish throne, 
the members of the Cuban Cabildo all took the oath of alle- 
giance to the latter, thereby earning for the island the title 
of the "Ever-Faithful." But the government of the colony 
was in a rotten condition, and Cuba was really on the verge 
of revolt. In 1825 the powers given to the governor were 
practically absolute, as under martial law; he was called 
captain-general, and was always of the rank of lieutenant- 
general in the regular army. He was answerable for his 
acts only to the sovereign of Spain; his power was supreme 
not only in military matters, but in civil and ecclesiastical as 
well. The six subordinate provincial governors were also 
military officers appointed by the crown, and they were sub- 
ject to the captain-general's orders. There were thirty-four 
lesser captaincies, and each town had its ayuntamiento and 
mayor ; but all were under orders of the head at Havana. 
A more compact and arbitrary despotism could not be con- 
ceived. 

There were two military departments— of Havana and 
of Santiago; the navy had five stations at points on the 
coasts ; the peace footing of the army was twenty thousand 
men ; there was a bishopric at Santiago which had exclusive 
jurisdiction up to 1788. The Havana diocese was then cre- 
ated, and Santiago afterward became an archbishopric. The 
Inquisition had been in operation since the sixteenth century. 
There was a supreme court at Havana, and two superior 
courts, of which one was at Puerto Principe. The number 



360 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

of judicial districts was twenty-six, and there were many 
local magistrates. All the higher and most of the lower 
oflBces were filled by Spaniards, according to the Spanish 
policy. Corruption was notoriously rife among them all. 
Even the rector of the university was subject to the captain- 
general. The greater part of the Cubans were illiterate, in 
spite of educational regulations. The salary of the captain- 
general was the same as that of the President of the United 
States; the archbishop received $18,000, and each provincial 
governor $12,000. All charges were paid by the revenues 
of the island, in addition to six milUon a year sent to the 
home government. The taxes, nevertheless, were to a great 
extent stolen by the officials. It is little wonder that under 
such a system the Cubans, who were deprived of all power 
to better their condition, were unable to make any progress 
in productivity. 

The six provinces of the island divide it into sections 
running north and south. Pinar del Rio is the westernmost 
of these; then comes Havana, which includes the Isle of 
Pines. The best tobacco region is in Pinar del Rio, which 
is about conterminous with Vuelta Abajo. Matanzas has 
no southern coast-line, Santa Clara coming in beneath it; it 
has the best sugar plantations, and is comparatively well 
cultivated. Santa Clara, besides sugar, grows many fruits 
and is supposed to have mineral deposits. Puerto Principe 
is in the low middle of the island, partly mountainous how- 
ever on the north, and overgrown with woods; here too are 
the most extensive caverns. Most of the revolutionary ris- 
ings have had their rendezvous in this region, the fastnesses 
of which are impenetrable. Santiago de Cuba covers the 
east end of the island, and has copper -and iron deposits. 

Havana, chief city of Cuba and of the "West Indies, hes 
on the western shore of a fine harbor, the entrance to which 
is through a narrow, well-defended channel. The bay is 
partly surrounded by low hills. A wall surrounded the city 
on the land side in old times, and the intramural arid extra- 
mural cities are still distinguished from each other. There 



THE WEST INDIES 361 

are several public buildings, in addition to the churches, and 
there are handsome prados and gardens. The hotels are 
numerous but bad ; there are four theatres and innumerable 
cafes. The town is the centre of the tobacco business, and 
has many manufactories of cigars. The population is in the 
neighborhood of two hundred thousand. The town of Pinar 
del Rio, in the interior, has twenty thousand inhabitants and 
is surrounded with tobacco plantations; there are mineral 
springs near San Diego, in the Organos hills; Guines, also 
inland, is the centre of the agricultural interest. Matanzas, 
east of Havana, has ninety thousand inhabitants and a 
splendid harbor; it is named from a massacre of natives 
which took place on its site. Its business is exporting sugar 
and molasses. Cardenas is still further east, and is called 
the American city, owing to the number of Americans in 
business there as manufacturers and traders ; it has railway 
connections with all important parts. Further east, the chief 
ports of trade are on the south coast. Cienfuegos has what 
has been called the finest harbor in the world, but the town 
was not built until 1819. Trinidad, a much older town, is 
inactive owing to its inferior situation at the end of a series 
of small bays. There is a fine tobacco region in this vicinity. 
Santa Clara, inland, is surrounded by valuable mineral veins. 
Puerto Principe is not a port, but stands midway between the 
two coasts; N"ue vitas, its port, originally bore its name. San- 
tiago was founded by Velasquez in 1515 and was at first the 
Cuban capital ; its harbor is but a hundred and eighty yards 
across at the mouth, but runs inland six miles, with the town 
at its furthest extremity. The cathedral was built in 1522. 
The town of Manzanilio is at the mouths of the Rio Cauto, 
and is a port for sugar export and tobacco, and also for 
honey and wax. Finally, Baracoa, though the original 
landing-place of Velasquez, and four hundred years old, has 
but five thousand inhabitants, and deals only in cocoa and 
bananas. It is on the northern coast, near Cape Maisi. 

This wonderful island lay practically dead until this cent- 
ury. • In 1774 the total population was but one hundred and 



362 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

seventy-two thousand, half of which was slaves. The plan- 
tation owners were few, and there were few small holders. 
The French immigrants, who introduced coffee, somewhat 
stimulated the movement of things, and this was carried on 
for a while by the surprising conduct of Napoleon in Europe, 
which led people to think that anything was possible — even 
increase of personal liberty in Spanish colonies. With one 
thing and another, the Cuban population had increased by 
1811 to some six hundred thousand persons of different col- 
ors and degrees of servitude; and for a dozen years the 
island had real prosperity; the returns from coffee alom/ 
were twenty million dollars per annum. The population 
continued to increase, but, singular to say, the whites out- 
numbered the blacks; until, at the outbreak of the late 
war, out of an estimated population of sixteen hundred and 
fifty thousand, nine hundred and fifty thousand were white, 
and only half a million negroes; the rest were Spaniards 
born in Spain. The negroes were little better off than when 
they were slaves ; the brown people occupied a position be- 
tween the negroes and the Creoles in social estimation ; the 
Creoles were not admitted to social equality with the Span- 
iards, but had an exclusiveness of their own, and a certain 
local patriotism. 

Although trustworthy statistics do not exist, owing to 
the negligence of the Spanish rulers, it is estimated with 
probable reason that half the island is still covered with for- 
est; and that out of the thii-ty million cultivatable acres, 
only two million are actually employed in productive agri- 
culture. The possible mining resources are still unknown, 
and though there are forty known varieties of valuable 
woods, besides many that are unclassified, their utilization 
has hardly begun. The railway system is only rudimentary, 
and other means of travel are deficient in proportion. In 
this respect Cuba compares badly with Jamaica, which has 
a magnificent system of roads traversing the island in all 
directions, and kept in constant repair at great expense. In 
short, we might say that Cuba has been hitherto not so much 



THE WEST INDIES 363 

dead as unborn. "When one considers that, with only one- 
fifteenth of the soil under cultivation, the agricultural prod- 
uct of the year 1892 reached the total of one billion dollars' 
value, we may form a conjecture as to what the result would 
be if all the available soil were utilized, and were, moreover, 
treated with scientific knowledge and economy. As to what 
the mineral returns might be, we have no data for making 
any estimate whatever. 

The Creoles are upon the whole an intelligent people, and 
some of them obtain education abroad; their intellectual 
calibre compares very favorably with that of the Spaniards. 
The men are largely free-thinkers, though the wome,n are 
kept in unquestioning submission to the Church. The life 
of the white peasants is very primitive, and the tendency is 
to adopt the habits of the negroes. They have no spirit, no 
principle, and no brains. Yet it is not beyond the bounds 
of possibility that, under proper stimulation, they might 
finally become useful members of the community, in their 
own lowly sphere. 

We shall trace the events which led up to the Cuban 
insurrections in a later chapter. Of Jamaica there is not 
much to be told in a history of Spanish America; for the 
Spaniards occupied the island only from 1509 to 1655, and 
did little there worth mentioning. The island as to its phys- 
ical features resembles Cuba; but has minor peculiarities 
of its own. It is much more broken up by mountains and 
ravines; insomuch that few level spaces can be found 
throughout its extent. Its soil is fertile, though hardly 
equal to that of Cuba; and on the limestone mountains, 
which constitute the greater part of the area, it is compara- 
tively thin. On the northeast coast, on the uplands, grows 
the pimento tree, from whose berries allspice is made; the 
silk-cotton tree is abundant, there are many species of palm ; 
and mahogany and ebony, and other woods of great hard- 
ness, throng the forests, many of which are still virgin and 
but little explored. In fact, the exceeding difficulty of trav- 
ersing the perpendicular hills and headlong gorges, and the 



364 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

danger involved in the "sink-holes" — vertical pits or cylin- 
drical cavities in the limestone, of all sizes and diameters, 
from two or three feet to a hundred or more — make travel 
in the forest unusual; and there is probably more space rela- 
tively in Jamaica which has never been trodden by human 
foot than in any of the other islands. The sink-holes, being 
whoUy hidden by the dense vegetation, are only discovered 
when the explorer is about to plunge into them; and doubt- 
less many persons have perished in this manner whose fate 
will never be known. Skeletons of animals, tusks of wild 
boars, and similar remains, are often found at the bottom 
of these holes, telling their silent story. ITone of the "West 
Indian islands contains, in an equal space, so much scenery 
of entrancing beauty as does Jamaica ; and the atmospheric 
effects are equally varied and fascinating. The climate dur- 
ing the greater part of the year is near perfection, if it does 
not quite attain it. The same products that characterize 
Cuba can be grown here, though of course the available area 
is indefinitely less; coffee flourishes on the mountain sides; 
there are numbers of sugar plantations, though that industry 
mostly ceased with the abolition of slavery and the appear- 
ance of beet sugar. Oranges grow wild all over the island, 
and of many varieties; certain kinds are the most delicious 
of all oranges known ; but no attempt has ever been made 
to classify or cultivate them. Mangoes also flourish every- 
where, and in many varieties; they are a staple food with 
the negroes, but for whites the taste must be acquired. The 
forests are filled with the bread-fruit ; and in several parts 
of the lower lands there are vast plantations of bananas and 
plantains; but the trade in these suffers from over-competi- 
tion. In mineral wealth Jamaica has never made any notable 
show ; there has been a plentiful lack of scientific investiga- 
tion in this direction; but it is hardly likely that anything 
of much value would reward such research. In any case, 
there is greater wealth in the soil than under it, if the means 
be taken to bring it forth. 

The first Spanish colony in Jamaica was near the Bay of 



THE WEST INDIES 365 

St. Ann, on the north coast; it was liamed Sevilla del Oro, 
and was founded in 1509 by Juan d'Esquival. Another and 
more important settlement was that of Santiago de la Vega, 
now called Spanish Town, on the south coast, twenty miles 
east of Kingston. Diego Columbus built it in 1525. Two 
or three attacks upon the island were made by the English 
prior to Cromwell's time, but no permanent foothold was ob- 
tained until 1655. The Spaniards spread themselves sparsely 
over the island, but accomplished little beyond exterminating 
the native population. The chief crop cultivated was cacao. 
As we have seen, the resident Spaniards fled to Cuba when 
the British took possession, and the slaves became "Maroons" 
in the recesses of the Blue Peak range, in the eastern end. 

Haiti was the Hispaniola of the Spaniards; it is next in 
size to Cuba, and is probably quite as fertile, and might be 
made to produce almost as much wealth. It is the most 
mountainous of the Greater Antilles ; is of irregular shape, 
contains an area of more than twenty-eight thousand square 
miles, and has a coast line of fifteen hundred miles. There 
are several good harbors, and the Bay of Samana is thirty 
miles long by ten wide; a number of small islands adjoin 
the coast. The mountains near the centre of the island reach 
a height of nine thousand feet, and some other peaks which 
have never been explored are believed to be a thousand feet 
higher yet. Magnificent mountains and mountain chains 
are found in all parts of the island. There are also more 
important rivers in Haiti than in any of the other Antilles. 
The substance of the island is solid rock, through which 
water cannot find its way, as it does through the limestone 
crust of Cuba and Jamaica. There are numerous superb 
valleys through which great streams flow to the sea; the 
sands of the River Ozama are flecked with gold, and at its 
mouth, in consequence, the eager Spaniards founded the city 
of Santo Domingo. There is probably much gold in the 
country, but no effort has been made to discover its locality. 
There are no regular roads in the country even to this day, 
and the negroes have for the most part lapsed into a state 



366 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA • 

worse than primitive savagery. All the vegetable products 
that grow in Cuba are equally susceptible of profitable culti- 
vation here ; but nothing has been done in the way of sys- 
tematic farming. The range of temperature between the 
highlands and the lowlands is greater than in any other of 
the islands, but the climate at the proper elevation is deli- 
cious and healthy, Earthquakes have been not uncommon, 
but there has been no volcanic upheaval within historic 
times ; and the hurricanes lose their power before they reach 
Haiti. In the early days of the discovery, Ovando founded 
the town of Salva Tierra near where Aux Cayes now stands ; 
but Santo Domingo was the chief settlement, and most of 
the other Spanish towns were not far distant from it. Santo 
Domingo was captured by Drake, in 1585, and suffered other 
disturbances ; and the French succeeded in obtaining a foot- 
hold at Petit Goave on the north side of the southern penin- 
sula at the western end of the island. They established 
plantations, traded with the buccaneers, and by means of 
the simple expedient of importing women slaves along with 
the men, succeeded in replenishing their stock without con- 
stant new importations. They raised the ordinary crops, 
and defended their settlement by building a fort which they 
called Port au Prince. So firmly were they established that 
at the Peace of Ryswick, Spain was obliged to concede to 
them the right to remain. This colony took the name of St. 
Dominique. When the blacks got their independence, they 
called the Spanish part of the island Haiti, while the French 
part received the appellation of Santo Domingo. But in the 
popular mind, there is small distinction between the two; 
they are both a fantastic parody on popular government. 
The boundary between the two is still indeterminate; but 
the French colony was the more successful, and soon became 
the more populous. The black revolution was precipitated 
by that of the French. The white citizens were ready for 
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity; but they of course had 
no idea of including the negroes in that arrangemeat. The 
French Assembly in Paris, however, being lavish with the- 



THE WEST INDIES 367 

ory, decreed that all persons of color born of free parents 
should be admitted to the rights of French citizenship. 
Hereupon trouble began, and not only tb 3 children of free 
negroes, but the slaves themselves, assumed a menacing at- 
titude. The Assembly now made matters worse by revok- 
ing their decree. Commissioners came but could effect noth- 
ing; and the Spaniards attacked Santo Domingo from tho 
land side, while the English assailed it from the sea. In 
August of this year (1793) one of the commissioners got 
upon a stump and declared, out of the fulness of his own 
heart and the emptiness of his head, that everybody was 
free without distinction. Then arose Frangois Dominique 
Toussaint, called Toussaint L'Ouverture, a full-blooded Af- 
rican, but a man of parts. His father had been a prince in 
his native country, and Toussaint was a natural leader of 
men. Under his command the native forces ran the Spanish 
and EngKsh out of the country ; France recognized his rank, 
and in 1795 he became dictator. He showed that he could 
rule in peace as well as in war; a constitution was made 
after his suggestions, free trade was established, and he was 
chosen president for life. Still, the new state was nominally 
at least in subjection to France. Unfortunately for poor 
Toussaint, ITapoleon came into power at this time, and ho 
objected to having an ex-slave assuming dictatorial airs 
within his dominions, no matter how vehemently he might 
protest that he was only governing under the wing of 
France. He sent an army of thirty thousand men to co- 
erce the black champion; the commander of the force, 
Leclerc, attempted at first to get hold of the dictator by 
stratagem, but he would not be limed. "War then began; 
but the French fought at a disadvantage, and were besides 
threatened by yellow fever. Leclerc finally succeeded in 
getting his hands upon Toussaint by means of deceptive 
representations; though there is little doubt that Toussaint 
would not have delivered himself up had he not felt that he 
was beaten, and hoped to placate his conqueror by submit- 
ting betimes. This was in 1803. He was taken to France 



368 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

in July of the same year on a charge of conspiracy, and was 
kept in prison until his death about nine months later. 
Meanwhile Leclei'c stayed in the island and ruled it with 
an iron and a bloody hand; but the revolt could not be 
quenched, and new leaders arose to take Toussaint's place. 
Bloodhounds were sent over to help the French; but the 
negroes had a far more terrible ally in the shape of yellow 
fever and other diseases; and the French soldiers were at 
last cornered in Cape Haitien, reduced to extremities, and 
finally forced to surrender. This victory ended French 
power in the island. Dessalines, one of the negro gen- 
erals, was chosen president ; he promptly made himself 
emperor, ordered the murder of every Frenchman on the 
island, and in general conducted himself in so savage a 
manner that he was in turn murdered by his own retinue. 
He was succeeded by rivals, little if at all better than him- 
self, and all wishing to be kings. Finally, in 1820, Boyer 
became president of the whole island, and was acknowl- 
edged by France upon promising to pay ninety thousand 
francs indemnity for property destroyed. As might have 
been expected, the money was a long time in getting paid. 
For twenty-two years after 1823 the two republics of Haiti 
and Santo Domingo were under one ruler; after which the 
separation of the latter was decreed, and has been ever since 
maintained. The subsequent history of the two states has 
been a more or less revolting tale of despotism, murder, 
brutal ignorance, grotesque pretensions, and general chaos; 
one hideous and absurd figure after another rising to power, 
and being again hurled down to destruction. It is hardly 
worth while to examine the "constitution" of a country like 
this. "Whatever laws are good, are not enforced; each so- 
called president is in fact a murderous despot, and the entire 
administration is corrupt. All the inhabitants of Haiti are 
black, or nearly so ; no white man is allowed to own prop- 
erty in the island. The religion is a ghastly mixture of 
Voudooism and cannibahsm; infants are cut to pieces on 
the altars and devoured with frightful rites, and the pagan 



THE WEST INDIES 389 

orgies which take place would be incredible, were they not 
too well atrtested. Sexual virtue and social and commercial 
honor do not exist in the community; the towns are shabby 
and ruinous, the roads practically non-existent, and the 
finances ridiculous. Amid the prevaihng squalor and filth- 
iness we see ape-like creatures stalking about in tawdry 
finery, and rejoicing in far-resounding titles of honor. 

Of the two republics, Santo Domingo is by far the more 
respectable — or perhaps we should say, the less scandalous. 
Here there are several thousand inhabitants of pure Spanish 
blood, and numerous quadroons and other half-breeds. The 
CathoHc reHgion still retains a hold upon the inhabitants, 
and voudooism is proportionally less rampant. Upon the 
whole, Santo Domingo is superior to Haiti precisely in meas- 
ure as its inhabitants are of white blood, or of mixed descent. 
The moral of the story is plain. Negroes are incapable of 
self-government ; and any attempt to give it to them, so far 
from tending to raise them in the scale of civilization, surely 
results in degrading them far. below the level of native Afri- 
can savagery. This lesson should not be lost upon our gen- 
eration ; in more ways than one we are approaching a period 
when we shall be forced to take decisive action upon it. 

A few years ago no one would have supposed that Amer- 
icans would ever feel much interest in Porto Eico ; but the 
results of our war with Spain have brought the island vio- 
lently into the foreground. It is to be the future home of 
many of us, and the basis of the commercial interests of 
many more; and whatever information is to be had con- 
cerning it, is pertinent. But inasmuch as it has been from 
the first an almost undisturbed Spanish possession, there 
is not as yet much to tell about it. 

The island stands in the path which leads from the 
Atlantic to the Isthmus, with deep water on all sides of 
it. The Mona Passage, between it and the eastern extrem- 
ity of Santo Domingo, is that through which commerce 
would naturally proceed. Its strategic value is therefore 
obvious. It is of an oblong figure, forty miles wide and a 



370 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

hundred miles in length, diminishing in breadth toward the 
east, and ending there in a blunt promontory. The bays 
or inlets are few. A few miles off the eastern end lies Crab 
Island, appertaining to Porto Rico, about seventeen miles by 
five in dimensions; and the islet of La Culebra lies dae north 
of Crab. Tiny islets of no importance are distributed in the 
vicinity. The area of Porto Rico is rather less than that of 
Jamaica, but much more of the space is available for habi- 
tation and cultivation, A low mountain chain traverses it 
from east to west, with spurs running northward from it; 
its height is about fifteen hundred feet only. The Sierra de 
Luquillo in the northeast has at its culmination an altitude 
about two thousand feet higher than this. The hills are cov- 
ered with soil, and nowhere save in the peak of El Yunque 
does the rocky substratum appear through the surface. In 
this respect the formation is entirely unlike the other Greater 
Antilles. Forests clothe the hills, and there is a layer of 
limestone, sometimes hollowed out in caves, over the lower 
rock. Many rivers flow through the land, some of which 
are of considerable size ; most of them run north or south. 
The largest are the Arecibo and the Cayagua, The rainfall 
on the north side of the island is heavy, owing to its direct 
exposure to the trades ; whereas, in the south, irrigation has 
occasionally to be practiced. The chief northern ports are 
Arecibo and San Juan de Porto Rico; on the west coast 
are Mayaguez and Aguadilla; Guanica, Guayanilla, La 
Playa and Arroyo are on the south, and Humacao and 
Fajardo on the east. 

Hardly any mining has been done in the island, which 
has always been an agricultural region; but precious metals 
are known to exist under the surface, and gold, copper and 
iron have been produced in small quantities. Lignite and 
limestone are also found. The forests afford the usual tim- 
ber peculiar to the West Indies, and there is also a tree called 
Sabino, which is said to be a special product of the island. 
Fruits and plants of all kinds grow in rich profusion, owiDg 
to the favorable surface, and there are innumerable ferns, 



THE WEST INDIES 371 

some of large size, which add to the prevalent and remark- 
able greenness of the landscape. Birds, insects, and snakes 
are few, and of quadrupeds only the armadillo and the 
agouti are indigenous. The products of the island are to- 
bacco, maize, cotton, cacao, yams, plantains and bananas, 
oranges, coffee and sugar. The summer climate is warm 
and moist, and August and September are relaxing, and 
there are occasional thunderstorms of appalling fury, and 
more rarely hurricanes. Upon the whole the climate is sa- 
lubrious, and with proper drainage in low and wet districts, 
there should be almost entire freedom from diseases. 

When Columbus discovered the island in 1493, he dis- 
carded the native name of Borinquen and substituted that 
of San Juan Bautista ; the population at that time was peace- 
able and numerous. There was serenity for fifteen years 
after this, for no more Spaniards appeared during that time; 
but in 1510 Ponce de Leon, under the persuasion that gold 
was to be had there, came over from Hispaniola and took 
possession. He founded the city on the north coast toward 
the east which he called San Juan Bautista de Porto Rico; 
it stood within the largest and best harbor of the island, and 
has remained its capital ever since. Porto Rico came in time 
to be the name apphed to the entire island. Ponce de Leon 
adopted the repartimiento system in apportioning the island 
to his followers, and it resulted as usual in the extermination 
of the natives, who offered" a passive resistance to slavery. 
The Caribs were the only ones who attempted resistance; 
and Ponce on his side attempted to clear them out of the 
Lesser Antilles ; with disastrous results. He soon afterward 
set out through the Bahamas and Florida on his search for 
the Fountain of Youth, and was miserably slain by the 
arrows of the Indians. Meanwhile, and for a long time 
afterward, Porto Rico made small progress ; being attacked 
by Caribs, Dutch, French and Enghsh at different times; 
and San Juan was sacked by Drake in 1595. Nevertheless, 
the Spanish held on to the island; but they made no effort 
to develop the interior resources. As late as 1765 there were 



872 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

less than fifty thousand inhabitants on the island; and it 
would doubtless have been captured from Spain by some 
one of her many enemies, had any one suspected how valu- 
able it really was. In the latter part of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, Spain sent out slaves and Spanish peasantry to occupy 
the land, and the little place began a season of prosperity. 
Here, as in Cuba, the whites exceeded the blacks in number; 
and when the revolutions on the main occurred, many per- 
sons spontaneously sought Porto Rico for peace and quiet. 
The island presently grew to be the most populous of the 
group in proportion to its size ; the latest estimate making 
the population about nine hundred thousand, of whom ^two- 
thirds were white, and of the remainder there were more 
mulattoes than Wacks. 

The harbor of San Juan is entered by a winding channel, 
and is roomy and deep within; tall hills are visible in the 
background, but the immediate coast is low. The Morro 
and other fortifications are so close to the city, that the 
latter is exposed to attacks by modern long-range guns. 
The town is compact and crowded, being built on the island 
at the east side of the channel ; the houses are of the usual 
stuccoed, two-story kind ; the ground story being occupied 
by negroes and other poor folks, the upper by "society peo- 
ple." Rain furnishes the only water supply, and there is 
only surface drainage; in consequence of which the town 
is dirty and unwholesome. The Marina, with its commer- 
cial buildings, lies below the town on the bay, and there is a 
small suburb, Puerta de Tierra, on the main road inland. 

Arecibo stands some distance inland, on a shallow river; 
it serves as port for the fertile region to the south. Agua- 
dilla is on the other side of the cape Ahujerada, on the west 
end of the island ; it ships sugar and coffee. South of it is 
Mayaguez, also some way back from the actual coast, but 
it has a considerable export trade in oranges and other fruits. 
Guanica is in a marshy district on the south coast ; but the 
harbor is a good one, and it is the port of a productive region. 
Ponce is a town of some pretension, and the largest in the 



THE WEST INDIES 373 

island; it has handsome houses, mineral springs, and baths 
at Coamo. East of it is Guayama, near the port of Arroyo; 
further east, the island is sparsely populated: and the towns 
stand back from the coast, there being noharbors and con- 
stant winds. There are salt marshes along the south coast 
where salt is prepared for the market. The interior towns 
of the country are of importance only as repositories for 
produce destined for the ports. 

Porto Rico never was a place of large plantations; the 
holdmgs were small and numerous, and the proportion of 
peasant proprietors was large. The slaves were relatively 
few and well treated, and after emancipation Hved comfort- 
ably with the whites. Until the beginning of this century 
there were hardly any large settlements, and the population 
scattered about the surface of the island, seldom saw one 
another except on days of religious festival. Even to-day, 
most of the inhabitants are country people, living along the 
valleys, and cultivating their fields by the methods of a by- 
gone age. Modern farming tools are unknown; but such 
IS the fine quality of the soil, that with proper management 
tobacco equal to the best Cuban kinds could be raised; and 
It is said that more sugar could be produced to the acre than 
m any of the other islands. The lower levels are given up 
to sugar cultivation, with tobacco on higher ground inland 
and coffee on the slopes of the hills. The means of transpor- 
tation are deficient; much of the carrying is done in baskets 
on the heads of the women and men. There is only one 
good road, connecting San Juan with Ponce, a distance of 
eighty miles. In other places, such roads as there are get 
washed out in the rains, or choked up by the tropic vege- 
tation, which IS like a living wild creature, pushing in 
wherever it is not kept constantly in check. 

The population is upon the whole of a low order, though 
some of the Creoles are fairly well educated; but the peas- 
antry and the negroes are wholly illiterate. The latter live 
on their holdings, and their needs are so primitive that they 
buy httle m the markets. Meat is seldom eaten by them • 



374 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

they subsist and thrive on fruit and vegetables. To civilize 
such people will not be easy ; they are spiritless and unenter- 
prising; artificial wants will have to be created for them, 
and even then they will be slow to take any personal trouble 
to fulfil them. If there were not so many of them, they 
would readily be absorbed and disappear in the more active 
and intelHgent population which is now likely to immigrate 
to Porto Rico; but as it is, there will be difficulties. Inertia 
is even more embarrassing to deal with than active hostility. 
After making all due deductions, however, Porto Rico is a 
possession well worth having, and must grow more valuable 
©very year. 



PART HI 




THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 

'E have already remarked that it was the overturn 
of established ideas and institutions in Europe, 
and especially in France, that gave the impulse 
to change in Spanish America. The success of the North 
American Revolution had left the Spanish colonies appar- 
ently unmoved, although certain individuals among the 
people had been thereby induced to consider the possibility 
of improving the condition of their country. But the French 
Revolution had results which practically compelled the colo- 
nies to action; it was not so much a question of choice as of 
necessity. The people did not rush into revolution; they 
were driven into it, and for a time they would not regard 
themselves as enemies of the mother country. But when 
they were once embarked in the business, they fought with 
fury, and hatred of the bitterest sort replaced their original 
loyalty. They had witnessed the cruel murder of Tupac 
Amaru, and the fruitless agitations of Miranda, and had 
seemed to acquiesce in the result. But these things had no 
doubt sown seeds of actions which were as yet hidden from 
themselves. When at last the time to fight came, they be- 
came conscious that there had long been latent in their minds 
a preconception of the issue. Let us once more glance at the 
causes which led up to the crisis. 

After the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, 

■ there ensued a period of reaction ; and conservatives hoped 

that all the old order, with its abuses, might return once 

more, and continue as if nothing had happened. This, of 

(375) 



376 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

course, was absurd; but it is certain that France showed 
signs of repentance, and the desperation which had urged 
on the people to their bloody excesses, dying away, left a 
tendency to retract and compromise. It was at that epoch 
that the character of Napoleon proved to be decisive. He 
had shown himself an unexampled soldier, and he had come 
to be regarded, both in himself, and as the favorite leader of 
the army, as the commanding figure of the time. The civic 
chiefs feared him, and also thought that he alone had the 
strength to restore and maintain order. He was elected 
consul, and was not long in making himself emperor. Eu- 
rope was at his feet, with the exception of still unconquered 
England; and he had made his arrangements to subjugate 
her likewise. His far-reaching plans had not forgotten the 
Americas; Spain could not resist him, and he designed 
through her to gain control of her colonies. 

Portugal happened at that juncture to have formed an 
alliance with the one power that Napoleon had cause to fear, 
and which he chiefly hated —England. To his profound 
intelligence a plan immediately presented itself whereby he 
might turn Portugal's opposition into a means of arriving 
at the realization of more schemes than one. Portugal lay 
on the further side of Spain ; in order to reach it by land, he 
must lead his army across Spain. The subjugation of Port- 
ugal was a trifling matter ; it might have waited, or it might 
have been foregone altogether. But the complete control 
of Spain was of importance, and Napoleon used his supposed 
designs on Portugal as a pretext for getting his hands on 
Spain's throat without- a struggle. All he had to do was 
to request permission to bring his army across the country, 
in order to attack Portugal; and then, upon arriving at 
Madrid, he would have the Spanish king in his power, and 
could make him do his bidding. This stratagem was no 
sooner conceived than it was acted upon. Manuel Godoi 
was the favorite of the queen Maria Louisa, who had raised 
him up from an obscure officer of the guards to the most 
influential position in the kingdom. Godoi was no friend 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 377 

to the Spanish people, nor did they love him; but he was the 
man for Napoleon's purpose. The latter had no difficulty 
in obtaining from him the safe-conduct that he required; 
and early in 1808 the French army was in Madrid. Spain 
was at this time in a state of apparently hopeless disorganiza- 
tion. Queen Maria Louisa was acting as ruler for her imbe- 
cile husband Charles IV. , through her creature Godoi, and 
there were parties in the country for and against her. Napo- 
leon fancied that this internal dissension wa& his opportunity ; 
he had decided to make his elder brother Joseph king ; Charles 
was forced to abdicate, and his son Ferdinand was preparing 
to succeed him, when Joseph was put forward. But Napo- 
leon had not calculated upon the aversion of the Spanish 
people, of whatever party, to any such manufactured sover- 
eign as Joseph ; they resented the expulsion of the Bourbons 
to a man. There was an English army in Spain at this 
time, for England was ready to assist that country against 
the common enemy; but Napoleon sent two hundred and 
fifty thousand men, and though Soult was worsted in the 
battle of Corunna, on January 16, 1809, Sir John Moore was 
killed and the English were compelled to retreat. English 
reinforcements, however, were already on their way to Lis- 
bon, with Sir Arthur Wellesley in command, and English 
money had been sent to induce Austria to make a diversion 
on the Danube. This compelled Napoleon to withdraw his 
best troops from Spain, to fight and win the battle of Wag- 
ram; but meanwhile the English were defeating the remnant 
of the French army in the Peninsula. Charles IV., after ab- 
dicating, had intimated a wish to reconsider his act; but to 
this Ferdinand, who was his mortal enemy, would not con- 
sent, and popular opinion supported him. Ferdinand himself 
nowever was powerless, and was interned in France. Joseph 
was on the throne, though he had no hking for it. Had the 
Spanish colonists but known it, he might have proved their 
best friend, for he was a democrat at heart, and opposed 
to all oppression. But the colonists never stopped to think 
of that; they were fired with loyalty and patriotism; and in 



378 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

spite of the cruel wrongs which they had suffered from the 
House of Bourbon, they would hear of no king but Ferdi- 
nand. He was the anointed sovereign; he was monarch 
by right Divine. There is something quite pathetic in this 
attitude; it is another indication of the lamentable state of 
ignorance and superstition in which the colonists were sunk. 
The House of Bourbon had never shown any consideration 
for them; on the contrary it had murdered, robbed and mal- 
treated them from the outset; had denied all their humble 
entreaties for mercy, and a chance to breathe and live ; had 
kept them from all voice in the management of their own 
affairs ; had imposed upon them an insolent and cruel body 
of oSace-holders who had no sympathy with them ; had para- 
lyzed the development of their countiy by iniquitous regula- 
tions of commerce, trade and industry ; had forbidden them 
to profit by their own crops, or to even raise certain crops 
which might interfere with monopolies elsewhere ; had taxed 
them to death, and in every way outraged and rebuffed them. 
And Ferdinand, the present representative of this evil House, 
was one of the most vicious, selfish and hidebound members 
of it; he did not even possess courage, but cowered and 
whined under Napoleon's eye, and dared make no attempt 
to grasp the power which legally was accorded to him. Such 
was the creature whom the American colonists, of all people 
in the world, extolled and worshipped, and preferred to hon- 
est Joseph Bonaparte. It is a pitiful and humiliating spec- 
tacle, and it carried its own penalty. 

But the phantom of a regency was raised up, and Fer- 
dinand, the object of this purblind loyalty, was a prisoner. 
What was to be done? How could the colonists be faithful 
to a king who did" not reign? That made no difference : they 
would wait until he came to his own again. But meanwhile 
how would they be governed? — by the regency? — No: for 
they doubted the good faith of the regency ; for aught they 
knew, it might be secretly in league with the treacherous 
French. The French continued to occupy Spain with their 
army; and though the soldiers of the regency had fought 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 37d 

with this army, they had been defeated, and it was possible 
that they were being sacrificed for hidden ends. The colo- 
nists, therefore, would submit neither to Joseph nor to the 
regency, or juntas j and all that was left for them to do was 
to elect juntas of their own, to rule while Ferdinand was in 
abeyance. And such juntas, being elected by the people, 
and of them, would introduce the reforms for which the 
country had so long been groaning. There was no thought 
or even wish for independence. 

This arrangement was then natural and indeed inevita- 
ble; but it encountered a stubborn obstacle. The country 
was full of Spanish office-holders, who clearly perceived that 
a junta government would mean their dismissal, and the 
consequent stoppage of their system, of highway robbery. 
They represented to the juntas in Spain that the colonies 
were guilty of infidelity. Anything would be better, in their 
opinion, than to allow the thin edge of the wedge of reform 
to be inserted. The spoils were too rich to be surrendered 
without a life-and-death struggle. Here were thousands 
of Indians being held to labor in the mines, under circum- 
stances of horrible inhumanity, but profitably from a finan- 
cial point of view : were they to be set free? 'Was the right 
of cultivating grapes, tobacco, and olives to be surrendered 
to the people? Were the huge duties levied upon manufac- 
tured goods to be lightened, and the importation of them 
taken away from the Cadiz merchants who now controlled 
it? Were the revenues of the colony to be handled in a man- 
nsr which would prevent every thieving official from sticking 
his fingers into them? Was the tithes system to be abolished? 
-—These tithes were supposed to be distributed in fourths, 
one each to archbishops and bishops, to deacons and canons, 
to curates, and to church-building funds ; but as a matter of 
fact, much of them went into the king's pocket, and the rest 
were farmed out to various persons, all of whom took toll 
from them : — was this agreeable arrangement to be put an 
end to? And were the vast grants of territory made by the 
Spanish government to favorites, thereby placing the whole 
— 17 



880 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

country under the control of a few rich and ruthless men — 
were these to be discontinued, or revoked? Not if the Span- 
ish office-holders could prevent it! 

Spain herself, however, could at the moment do little to 
help her royalists in America, by reason of her feebleness 
and degradation at home. The "Council of the Indies" had 
transferred the Spanish provinces to Napoleon, who had, in 
May, 1810, dispersed the central junta in Spain. Rather than 
submit to the requirements of the colonists, the Spanish office- 
holders would have given their fealty to the Corsican, Bat 
the colonists' movement was widespread; the causes of it 
were the same, from Mexico to Chili. "We have to multiply 
many-fold the aggravation occasioned in our North Ameri- 
can colonies by King George's Stamp Act, in order to appre- 
ciate what these Spanish Americans had endured. And yet 
redress of intolerable grievances was all they asked. Their 
juntas acknowledged Ferdinand as king, and in opposing the 
rule of the Spanish juntas, they did not oppose the royal 
authority, whenever it should be exercised. Let it be per- 
mitted them to cultivate what their soil would bring forth, 
to open their ports to the commerce of all nations, to enjoy 
free trade among themselves and with Spain, to suppress 
monopolies in favor of the king and the pubhc treasuries, 
to be allowed to work their own quicksilver mines, to be 
ehgible equally with Spaniards to offices of rank and employ- 
ment : — such were their very moderate requests. Moderate 
or not, they were regarded by the Spanish authorities (or 
what then passed for such) as monstrous and rebeUious. 
Nor were these authorities mollified by the fact that the 
colonies had freely impoverished themselves in order to give 
help in the war -against France. They were intent upon reve- 
nue only, and anything that interfered with that was treason. 

The struggle began in 1809 ; for the attempt of Ubalde 
in Peru, in 1805, had had as untoward a fate as that of 
Tupac Amaru in the previous century. But in April, 1809, 
a junta was formed in Caracas, Venezuela, and this example 
was followed in July of the same year in Peru; at Quito 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 38.1 

in August. Santa Fe and Buenos Ayres followed in May of 
the next year, Santiago de Ckili in September, 1810, and 
Mexico about the same time. It was only after the first 
fighting had taken place that the smaller states of Central 
America took up arms, and nearly half a generation had 
passed before the independence of the colonies was conceded 
by Spain. In the interval much blood was shedj and many 
names were made and lost. A few survived, and still shed 
renown upon the cause which they supported. 

But at the beginning, the Spaniards had the advantage; 
for the colonists had been slaves so long that they did not 
know how to adopt practical measures to be free. After a 
short but bloody struggle, all the Juntas were suppressed 
except those in Colombia and in Buenos Ayres. The ideas 
which had called them into being, however, could not be 
obliterated, and the revolt continued, with this difference, 
that the sentiment of the people was now agaii^t Spain and 
Spain*s king, instead of being merely reformatory within the 
limits of loyalty; what they wanted now, and perceived that 
they must possess, was absolute separation from the mother 
country, and total independence. This was a far stronger 
motive than the original one, because its aim was more in- 
spiring and noble, and the penalties of failure were more 
terrible. If there could but be loyalty to one another, and 
an intelligent combination between the various parts of the 
colonial empire, it ought not to be difficult to win success., 
Unfortun?.tely, as we know from the experience of our own 
Revolution, united action is the very thing which revolution- 
ists, especially at the inception of their attempts, find it most 
difficult to secure. It was especially difficult in the present 
case ; there was no ready means of communication between 
the colonies in different parts of the country, and there was 
much ignorance to be enlightened, as well as many personal 
ambitions to be accommodated. And first of all w^as needed 
a really great man, the magic of whose words and acts might 
cause all warring factions to unite with him. Such a man, 
very nearly, was Simon Bolivar, who, with San Martin and 



382 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

O'Higgins, did more than any others to carry the long and 
desultory war to a successful conclusion. It is worth while 
to examine a little into Bolivar's origin and history. 

He was horn at Caracas, Venezuela, on the 24th of July, 
1783. In 1810, therefore, he was but seven and twenty years 
of age. His early years were spent in comfort on his father's 
estates, the latter being a wealthy man, possessed of consid- 
erable landed property. But the elder Bolivar died when 
Simon was three years old; his mother did not very long 
survive him. Simon, however, received a fair education, 
considering the age and place. A certain Don Simon Rodri- 
guez was his first instructor: a gentleman, it would appear, 
of no little learning, and of homely and simple exterior, 
which led to his receiving the nickname of Diogenes. Un- 
der him the boy continued until his fifteenth year, when 
he passed to the care of the sages of the Church. His only 
surviving relative, and uncle, Don Carlos Palacios, Marquis 
Palacios, assumed the position of guardian to the youth, and 
decided that the best thing to do with him was to send him 
to the mother country to complete his education. For sev- 
eral years accordingly we may imagine him studying law 
in the Spanish capital, and making acquaintance with life 
in general. Like many South Americans, he showed a pre- 
cocity which is not so common among us ; and before he was 
twenty he knew the world (after the fashion that precocious 
youths know it), and had begun to form opinions upon vari- 
ous important subjects. Whether the opinions were as im- 
portant as the subjects, is another matter. Leaving Spain, 
he travelled over Europe, making the grand tour, as fashion 
and his own pleasure demanded. He saw other countries, 
and compared them with his own, no doubt drawing con- 
clusions therefrom. No country in Europe at that time, 
not even England, was a whoUy Paradisiacal spectacle; 
but there are degrees of imperfection, and certainly a native 
of Venezuela, not quite blinded by local prejudice, must 
have seen things in Europe which made him reflect that 
there was room for improvement at home. But through 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 38B 

whom was the improvement to come? He had seen some- 
thing of the Spanish court, and had even enjoyed a personal 
acquaintance with Ferdinand himself, then a child, and had 
on on© occasion struck him on the head with a racket. He 
long afterward referred to this incident, interpreting it as 
an omen that he was one day to "wrench from his crown 
its most precious jewel." But Ferdinand's behavior upon 
the occasion could not have given Bolivar any assurance 
that he, as king, would be apt to be the one who should 
dispense justice to the colonies. Who should do it then? 
Did Bolivar have any presentiment that he would ever do 
it himself? 

He was in Paris at the close of the French Revolutioh, 
being still only nineteen years old ; and that spectacle may 
well have inclined him to doubt whether popular govern- 
ment was an altogether lovely thing, either. As between 
despotism and democracyj there were faults on both sides. 
Bolivar now returned to Madrid and married a young lady 
who is described as '^beautiful and accomplished.** She 
was but sixteen I and these two children, as we might call 
them, set out for Yenezuela, expecting to spend their wedded 
life there upon the Bolivar estates. The good-looking and 
wealthy young people, who ardently loved each other, might 
well look forward to a life of felicity in the lovely scenery 
and cUmate of northern South America; but Providence 
would not have it so. Bolivar had other duties awaiting 
him than to be happy in peaceful seclusion with his wife. 
Had she lived, he might never have heard the call of a 
higher love than the domestic one. His young wife died, 
soon after landing, of yellow fever; and there is no reason 
to doubt that upon his thoughtful and passionate nature this 
unexpected and grievotis loss produced a profound and per- 
manent effect. He could not bear to live on in the place 
where he had looked forward to living with her; and for 
five years he resided in Paris, whither he had returned 
immediately after her death. "I loved my wife much," 
he afterward said, ''and at her death I made a vow never 



J 



384 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

again to marry. I have kept my oath. Perhaps, had I not 
lost her, my career would have been different. I might 
not, then, have been General of the Liberators. My sec- 
ond visit to Europe would never have been made. The 
ideas which I imbibed during my travels would not have 
eome to me; and the experience I have had, the study of 
the world that I have made, and of men and things — all 
this, which has so well served me, would never have been. 
Politics would never have attracted me. But the death of 
ray wife caused the love of my country to burn in my heart ; 
and I have followed the chariot of Mars rather than Ceres' 
plow." 

Many young men before Bolivar, and after him, have 
declared, when their first love died, that love of woman was 
forever past with them ; and have discovered later that they 
spoke too quickly. But, with Bolivar, the forecast was a 
true one. In the company of his old friend and preceptor, 
Diogenes Rodriguez, he left Paris in 1805, and went to Italy. 
At that time Napoleon was in the midst of his astonishing 
career, and some men called him a god, some a demon, but 
all held him to be unmatchable and unprecedented. Bolivar 
made the passage of the Alps on foot, following the trail 
which Napoleon and his army had made siz years before; 
and he had the fortune to be present when the Man of Des- 
tiny placed on his own brows the iron crown of Lombardy, 
uttering the defiant words, "God has given it to me!" He 
witnessed, also, the emperor's review of that army by whose 
aid he had conquered the world. These were memorable 
sights. Pondering them, he journeyed on to other Italian 
towns — to Venice, to lovely Florence, and finally to Rome, 
capital of the world. Throughout, the sage Rodriguez was 
his fellow traveller. 

In Rome we may imagine him meditating over the ashes 
of an empire that had perished in its iniquities, and marvel- 
ling over that new empire of the spirit which had arisen in 
its place. The aspirations which had long been working 
silently in his mind began to seek expression. One day he 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 385 

proposed to his companiou that they visit Monte Aventino, 
from whose summit the immemorial city, with its ruins and 
its churches, was visible in the morning light, an epitome of 
human power and frailt3^ The scene, by some subtle asso- 
ciation, recalled to Bolivar his native Caracas. Rome was 
the grave of a mighty history past; might not Caracas be- 
come the birthplace of a famous history to come? The curse 
that waits on mortal pride had fallen upon Rome ; might not 
Caracas take the first step in throwing off the curse which 
mortal greed and oppression had caused to weigh her down? 
— and might not Bolivar himself be the instrument to bring 
this to pass? As these thoughts entered his brain, a sudden 
passion seized upon him; he grasped Rodriguez's hand. 
"This is the Sacred Mount," said he; "let us, standing 
here, pledge our lives to the liberation of our country!" 
The incident has a Byronic flavor; but "Childe Harold" 
was not written till six years later; and we are also to re- 
member that this vow, youthful and grandiloquent though 
it reads now, was one at least of the predisposing causes 
of South American Independence. 

We may now, therefore, regard Bolivar as having a defi- 
nite object in life, of as high a sort as can fall to any man. 
He was to live and, if need be, die for his country ; he was 
to cast off her yoke of centuries, and see her arise free and 
happy. A great purpose is for many men a regeneration; 
it makes them over anew, on a higher plane. Bolivar had 
missed the tenderer side of life; his strong affections had 
been bereft of their first object, and now they seized with 
multiplied energy upon this new object which could never 
be taken away. It would mold all his future actions and 
designs, and it contained the seed from which were to spring 
the events of his career. Little, indeed, did the young man 
imagine what lay before him ; had he done so it is possible 
that he might have hesitated to go forward upon a path so 
rugged and stormy, not unattended by episodes neither glo- 
rious nor noble. But what man could have the courage to 
exist, did he know all that the day was to bring forth? The 



386 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

future is mercifully hidden; but the purpose and the hope 
are with us, and with those we make shift to fight our way. 
Bolivar's destiny was, to arrive, after trials and efforts which 
would have crushed most men, to a bright summit of power 
and honor; but it was not to be his destiny to die at that 
great moment. His end was to come to him in sadness and 
exile ; in his life of seven and forty years he was to experi- 
ence all vicissitudes. But looking back upon all that had 
been, at the last, ^he may well have told himself that the 
•good overtopped the evil; and the welcome thought may 
have come to him that his country was the better because 
he had lived. And happiness, in this world, is an approving 
conscience, or it is nothing. 

Bolivar sailed for the West in 1809, passing through the 
United States on his way home, to observe the working of 
Republican institutions, which at that time were doing fairly 
well under the benign superintendence of Thomas Jefferson. 
BoHvar seems to have thought highly of our Constitution, 
and resolved to adopt it in the Republic which he meant to 
call into being in the south. It is to his credit as a judicious 
person, although so young, that he preferred it to the bois- 
terous promises and protestations of tbe French democracy. 
But youthful generosity, rather than judgment, was shown 
in his invitation to Miranda to enter Caracas with him. 
This unlucky hunter of shadows was at that time living 
in much retirement and discredit in London, contending 
as best he might with the difficulties of proving that his 
untimely disappearance from the naval engagement of 
Bonair reflected no dishonor upon his personal heroism. 
Bolivar had been in communication with the juntas in 
Venezuela, and they had prudently counselled him to have 
nothing to do with Miranda; the countrj', they surmised, 
would be safer without the aid of patriots of his sort. Boli- 
var, however, at that stage of his development, was willing 
to believe that the devil might not be so black as he was 
painted; he thought that possibly Miranda might have been 
the victim of circumstances, and merited to be triad once 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN . 387 

more. Accordingly, he sent him the invitation which was 
fated to have consequences much more important than either 
of them anticipated. For the moment, everything turned 
out favorably. Miranda was an old man for those days- 
approaching sixty— and his fiasco at Bonair was three years 
in the past, and the facts concerning it had never been thor- 
oughly established. On the other hand, there was no deny- 
ing that he had achieved a certain distinction in the world; 
native Venezuelans who showed above the level were rare, 
and one must make the best of what one has. Moreover, 
the conflict with the Spanish viceroy had already begun, 
and need was of all the patriots that could be got together. 
Revolution had broken out in La Paz, on the summits of 
the Bolivian Andes; the Spanish officials there had been 
deposed, and a junta established. Another junta was 
formed at Quito the following August, and meanwhile 
Spanish forces were marching against the La Paz rebels 
from Buenos Ayres and Peru. The La Paz junta raised 
an army, and gave battle to the enemy; but they were 
soundly defeated, and the victors inflicted upon them such 
tortures and outrages as the Spanish genius has ever been 
fertile in. The leaders were captured and executed. Quito's 
turn came next; the patriots were able to make no head 
against the royal troops. But while these successes were 
attending the Spanish efforts in the north, trouble broke 
out in Buenos Ayres, in the rear; Cisneros, the viceroy 
there, was compelled to abdicate, and a junta assumed 
power. For a time, these people were unchecked, for the 
royaUsts were fully occupied elsewhere. There were minor 
conflicts in Montevideo, in Uruguay, and elsewhere, and 
then the junta made a compact of alliance with the Portu- 
guese of Brazil, which was then embroiled with Spain over 
a question of boundaries. Before these events, Caracas had 
followed the general example; and by the time Bolivar and 
Miranda made their entry into the city, war was in the air, 
and the excitable populace was eager to hail somebody — it 
mattered not much who— as champion and rescuer. BoHvar 



ass HISTORY OF sPA^^s^ America 

and Miranda, riding side by side into the city, answered the 
requirements as well as anybody. They were greeted with 
acclamations, and Miranda received full as hearty a welcome 
as the practically unknown Bolivar. Miranda was not the 
man to neglect so good an opportunity of recommending and 
exalting himself. He soon had convinced all who would 
hsten to him that his defeats had been moral victories, and 
that what had seemed poltroonery was but a sublimer kind 
of courage. The uprising of the people occurred in April of 
this year, and Miranda rode upon the crest of its wave. An 
electx^ral college was created in the town to elect representa- 
tives to congress, to settle the question as to whether inde- 
pendence should be announced. It was the first assembly 
in South America which had acted at the mstance of the 
colonists, instead of in obedience to the crown. As a mat- 
ter of course, the renowned Miranda was chosen one of the 
deputies, and was given the rank of lieutenant-general of 
the Army of the Provinces. He regaled all and sundry 
with tales of how he had foreseen and prophesied this event, 
and intimated that the prophecy had been father to the fact. 
Every one was excited and enthusiastic, as is apt to be the 
case when danger is ahead but has not yet assumed material 
form. Miranda was *' hailed" as the venerable apostle of 
liberty. As for young Simon Bolivar, he held himself in 
reserve, and watched the course of things, lending a hand 
when chance offered. He had not yet suffered glorious de- 
feats, like his elderly colleague ; but he was ready to do what 
he could for Caracas and South America, as soon as anything 
should present itself to be done. 

South Americans date the beginning of independence 
from this 19th of April, 1810. It is impossible to affirm what 
piu'poses were or were not in the minds of the junta at that 
time; but in the light of subsequent events they persuaded 
themselves that they intended freedom from Spain from the 
first. As a matter of fact, nations, Hke individuals, are led 
along from one point to another, with very little idea as to 
where they will ultimately bring up. Every one was shout- 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 389 

ing, every one was making an oration on all manner of ab- 
stract topics; and of course all manner of things must have 
got themselves uttered. It is very possible that, among 
these things, the immediate independence of Caracas may 
have been suggested. What is certain is that the local cap- 
tain-general, Emparan, had no intention of abandoning his 
position as representative of Spain ; and he had been unable 
to persuade himself that these shouting and gesticulating 
lunatics were in the least in earnest in their vaporings. He 
would imprison or perhaps behead two or three of them, and 
all would be peaceful and quiet once more. Of the three 
parties into which the inhabitants divided themselves, Em- 
paran could reasonably count upon the support, activje or 
passive, of two: the royalists, who favored Ferdinand, and 
the imperialists, who were for Napoleon. The third party, 
the so-called patriots, among whose leaders was this young 
Simon Bolivar, were hardly worth considering, in Emparan's 
opinion. He noted down the names of the most conspicuous 
of them, for future reference. 

The existence of a regency at Cadiz had been announced 
at Caracas by commissioners on April 18th, and the Vene- 
zuelans had been duly admonished to look upon the regency 
as the true representative of the king. But Simon Bolivar 
was moved to deliver himself of certain opinions and senti- 
ments upon this occasion, which history has preserved. He 
said: "This power which fluctuates in such a manner in the 
Peninsula, without making itself secure, invites us to estab- 
lish, here in Caracas, a junta of our own, and to be governed 
by ourselves." The word was spoken; the thought which 
had been latent in many minds had declared itself. The 
people went home and slept upon it — if we can suppose that 
there was sleep under such pregnant circumstances — and the 
following morning, which was Holy Thursday, the corpora- 
tion of the city assembled at the church to celebrate the holy 
ceremony, as good Catholics should. Emparan, the captain- 
general, received their invitation to attend with them. Em- 
paran was careful of his dignity ; it was his custom to declare 



390 HISTORY OF SPANISH A:MERICA 

that he governed Caracas absolutely, with no reference to 
any other power ; and when he and the corporation met, and 
he was given to understand that a junta was being mooted, 
he was naturally in a state of high indignation. But the 
church services were about to begin. "I will talk with you 
after the divine offices in the church," said he, ominously; 
and turned upon his heel and stalked away, like the grandees 
of the drama. The longer the holy office continued, the more 
full of evil rage did Emparan become ; and it may be sur- 
mised that the corporation awaited the result of his medita- 
tions with some anxiety. This was the first time any of 
them had ever bearded a captain-general, and they knew not 
what might come of it. They were left in suspense for an 
hour or more. Perhaps the next event would be their arrest, 
and heaven knows what after that. In this predicament, 
whj'- not take the law into their own hands ; it might be their 
last chance. By the time Emparan met them in the council 
chamber, the Rubicon had been crossed; the council had 
made up their minds that Caracas was independent, and 
that Emparan, consequently, was out of a job. They re- 
ceived him politely, however, and began suggesting that 
he co-operate in the formation of a supreme junta. The 
man was so astounded, or so choked with passion, that he 
made little or no reply ; whereupon the council, taking silence 
for assent, was on the point of offering him the presidency 
of the junta. But before this matter could be put to the 
vote, there was an unexpected and important interruption. 
Into the council chamber suddenly burst an excited figure 
clad in priestly vestments, who was at once recognized as 
Jose Cortes Madariga, a Chilian, and deacon of the cathe- 
dral. The aspect" of him, declare the chroniclers, was as that 
of a prophet. He advanced to the centre of the floor and 
threw up his arm. The captain-general frowned upon him, 
pale and haughty. The councillors paused in their proceed- 
ings. For a moment there was a painful silence. 

"I appear before you," then said Madariga, in a strained 
voice, "as the deputy of the clergy of this realm. I speak 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 391 

with the voice of the Church in Venezuela. Beware what 
you are about to do I Are you so blind as once more, at this 
supreme moment, to put yourself in the power of Spain? 
Will you again deliver yourselves bound hand and foot into 
the keeping of that man?" He pointed at the captain-gen- 
eral, and his voice gained depth and power. "Beware! Im- 
peril not the fair prospect, offered by Providence, of popular 
sovereignty; turn not away from this divine gift of freedom 
and self-government ! Who is there in Spain to claim your 
obedience? The rightful king is an exile, if not a prisoner. 
The regency is but the corrupt favorite of the queen, mas- 
querading as the royal representative. An alien sits on the 
Spanish throne, hated and denounced by the people he "as- 
sumes to govern. I tell you there is none who can demand 
your fealty. You are masters of yourselves at this hour : it 
is the hour of your emancipation.'* Then, summoning up all 
his energies, he once more faced the captain-general. "I 
demand the deposition of this man I" he shouted. "I de- 
mand it in the name of the public good. Aye, in the name 
of justice I demand it, and of my country, and of liberty!" 

These loud and bold words echoed through the silent 
chamber, where the councillors sat, not knowing what might 
be coming next. But the Spanish governor rose up, porten- 
tous with indignation. Outside the building a great crowd 
had been collecting during the session, and the sunny square 
was filled with them from side to side, and their murmur 
was audible through the open windows. Relying upon the 
prestige of his personal power, Emparan resolved upon the 
instant to appeal to them. There was a balcony leading 
from the chamber, and overlooking the square; to this Em- 
paran hastened; but Madariga had divined his purpose, and 
instantly followed him. They appeared upon the balcony 
together; and the priest was almost as well known to the 
populace as was the captain-general. The former stood 
behind the other, who, in the fierceness of the crisis, did not 
perceive him. 

Emparan's words were few, but to the point. "Vene- 



392 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

zuelans," he cried out, "answer me — are you content with 
my administration?" 

He stood, the centre of a thousand eyes, awaiting their 
verdict, upon which, perhaps, the future of Spanish America 
depended. But those eyes, looking past him, perceived the 
dark figure of the priest, who silently raised his arm, and 
made an emphatic gesture of negation. Every man caught 
the significance of the motion, and responded to it. 

"No — no!" roared the people, as with one voice, pressing 
forward and tossing themselves tumultuously. "No — we 
want you not — we will have governors of our own : we want 
you not!" 

The haughty Emparan glared down upon them, clinch- 
ing his fists, his face red, then pale. He could do nothing ; 
his power was gone, and he knew it. There was hardly a 
man in all that crowd whom he had not wronged personally ; 
and that turbulent outcry, with the growl of menace in it, 
admonished him to restrain himself. 

"You do not want me?" he said, in hoarse and heavy 
tones, grasping the marble railing of the balcony to still the 
quivering of his hands. He paused to gain his self-posses- 
sion; and then, with the words, "Neither do I want you!" 
he turned, and slowly withdrawing, was seen no more. So 
fell the power of Spain in Caracas. 

The junta was forthwith proclaimed as an independent 
power, qualified to choose its own form of government, and 
pledged not to recognize the regency at Cadiz. It still 
affirmed itself prepared to recognize the authority of Ferdi- 
nand, should he recover the throne; but it decreed mean- 
while the banishment of Emparan, with the payment of his 
expenses for the' journey to the United States. In effect, 
Venezuela had revolted. 

After Emparan had gone, the provinces elected their rep- 
resentative congress and the deputies met at Caracas. Tbe 
absorbing question now was, whether this congress would 
vote to sever the province from Spain and proclaim its in- 
dependence to the world. The general trend of opinion was 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 393 

radically patriotic; yet there were not wanting many who 
would fain make haste slowly. An association calling itself 
the Patriotic Club of Caracas was formed, of which the lead- 
ing men of the province were members, and which soon was 
recognized as the leader of thought in that part of the coun- 
try. The legislative body itself was influenced by its decis- 
ions, for the most weighty members of the legislature were 
affiliated with the society. Those who had been conversant 
with the events of the French Revolution saw in this Patri- 
otic organization a reminiscence of the famous clubs which 
had decreed such momentous things during that bloody 
epoch. Timid minds saw in the simultaneous existence of 
the Club and of the legislature a possible source of dispute 
and friction; and dreaded lest the former might take advan- 
tage of its lack of legal responsibility to lead the country into 
rash excesses. The Club held a meeting on the 4th of July, 
1811, and' in the midst of great general excitement Simon 
Bolivar arose to address the assembly. 

*'Patriots," he began, "we have heard it said that there 
are two congresses here in Caracas, one of opinion, the other 
of action. It is not so; yet both opinion and action are 
needed, and there need not be, and there. is not, any discord 
between them. The crisis demands both that we think and 
that we act. We, who realize the necessity for the union 
of all hearts and minds at this hour — we dread no schism. 
Patriots, what we desire and what we aim at, in our struggle 
for liberty, is union of mind and heart. The hour we have 
prayed for is here. Yesterday, to linger in the arms of apathy 
was shameful only; to-day, it is treason! The Voice of the 
people speaks, and it will be heard. Our sovereign Con- 
gress, assembling, debates what action it shall take at this 
crisis; and what is its decision? — that we should embark 
upon the new order of our destiny with a confederation? 
Are we not already confederated against foreign tyranny? — 
That we should await the results of the policy of Spain? 
Await them? What care we, my countrymen, whether 
Spain sells her slaves to Bonaparte, or keeps them to do her 



394 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

own bidding, if we ourselves are resolved to be free? What 
matters it to us, I say? — These are unworthy considerations : 
they are the fruit of our long and sorrowful subjection. Are 
we told that great projects must develop calmlj^? — Calmly! 
Are not, then, three centuries of servitude preparation suffi- 
cient for decisive action? Calmly! Must we endure three 
hundred years more of tyranny before we are men? Friends, 
this Patriotic Society of ours gives due respect to the august 
Congress of the new nation; but let that Congress remember 
that our Society is in harmony with the heart of the People : 
it is the focus of light in the cause of the Revolution. Pa- 
triots, let us here lay without misgiving the foundation-stone 
of South American liberty! To hesitate, is ruin! Venezue- 
lans, I move that a committee be appointed from this body 
to convey these sentiments to the Sovereign Congress." 

Gallant ideas were these, fitly expressed : though not, as 
we observe, in the style that would be expected on the floor 
of the English House of Commons, or even in our own Con- 
gress. But the Latin races have their own wa,ys of doing 
things, and all we need concern ourselves about is to note 
how they prosper in the doing. When the sensation caused 
by Bolivar's speech had somewhat subsided, up sprang a 
deputy and. moved that the motion be adopted. It was car- 
ried by acclamation; and to one Dr. Miguel Pena was in- 
trusted the task of reducing to v/riting the petition to the 
Congress, expressing the views of Don Simon Bolivar, and 
of submitting it to them. The doctor, it appears, worked 
with such diligence that on that very evening the petition 
was read in the legislative hall. The impression it produced 
was profound. The night passed, however, without any 
action having been taken upon it; but the news had got 
abroad, and the air wa,s electric with suspense. On the 5th 
of July, Congress assembled and was addressed by its presi- 
dent. "We have now," he said, "reached the moment most 
opportune for considering the question of absolute independ- 
ence. 1 suggest to the deputies that the discussion should 
begin at once." The galleries of the House were filled with 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 395 

people, who applauded vehemently. The question was put 
"Shall the motion to give freedom to Venezuela be adopted?" 
The motion was carried with no dissentients. And then,- 
with the remarkable promptness which, on this occasion, 
marked the proceedings of a people whom we are apt to re- 
gard as over- prone to postpone till to-morrow what ought 
to be done to-day, the Venezuelan analogue to our own 
Jeffersonian Declaration of Independence was prepared and 
promulgated before midnight. A very meritorious document 
it is, as the reader shall see for himself : — 

*'In the name of the all-powerful God: 

"We, the representatives of the United Provinces of 
Caracas, Cumana, Varinas, Margarita, Barcelona, Merida 
and Truxillo, forming the American Federation of Vene- 
zuela, in the south continent, in Congress assembled, con- 
sidering the full and absolute possession of our rights', which 
we justly and legally recovered, from the 19th of April, 1810, 
in consequence of the occurrences in Bayona, and the occu- 
pation by conquest of the Spanish throne, and the succession 
thereto of a new dynasty, constituted without our consent — 
are desirous, before we make use of the rights of which, for 
more than three centuries, we have by force been deprived, 
but which are now restored to us by the progress of political 
events, to make known to the world the reasons that have 
been generated by these occurrences, which authorize us to 
make free use of our sovereignty." 

That is a good long sentence, in which Jefferson bears his 
part, but complicated with the desire of the Caracan imitator 
to get in all that referred to the local situation ; nor should 
we forget the circumstances of hurry and agitation under 
which the whole matter was conducted. To resume; 

"We do not however desire to begin by alleging the 
rights inherent in every subject country to recover its prop- 
erty and independence ; we generously forget the long series 
of ills, injuries and privations which the grievous right of 
conquest has occasioned to all the descendants of the discov- 



396 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

erers, conquerors and settlers of these countries; driven as 
they were to misery by the very country which should have 
ministered to their comfort. We draw the veil over the three 
centuries of Spanish domination in America;' and we now 
present only the authentic facts of disorder and conquest 
which have disrupted the Spanish nation, and which have 
deprived her of her last pretext for continuing to oppress us. 

"Ever deaf to our demands for justice, the governments 
of Spain have tried to discredit us by declaring us criminal, 
and by stamping with infamy and rewarding with the scaf- 
fold each attempt which at various periods certain Ameri- 
cans have made to secure the happiness of their country. 
Such an attempt was that which concern for our welfare 
recently prompted us to make, thereby guarding ourselves 
against being drawn into the disorders which we foresaw; 
and hurried to that hideous fate which we are now about to 
remove from our horizon forever. By an atrocious policy, 
the governments of Spain have succeeded in making our 
own kith and kin insensible to our misfortunes; have armed 
them against us; have erased from their hearts the sweet 
sentiments of friendship and consanguinity, and converted 
a part of our own family into our deadly foes. 

"At the very time when we, faithful to our vows, were 
sacrificing our security and civic dignity to preserve the 
rights which we had generously accorded to Ferdinand 
the Bourbon, we have beheld him cement by ties of blood 
and friendship the enforced ties which bound him to the 
French emperor; in consequence whereof even the govern- 
ments of Spain have already announced their resolution to 
acknowledge him conditionally, 

"Embarrassed by this lamentable alternative, we have 
remained for three years in a state of political ambiguity 
and indecision, so perilous that this alone would justify us 
in the resolve which, nevertheless, our promises and the 
bonds of brotherhood caused us to defer to the last moment. 
Now, however, constrained by the hostile and unnatural con- 
duct of the governments of Spain, which have disburdened 



THB REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 397 

US of our oatli, we have gone beyond the limit which we had 
at first proposed, and thus are called to the august attitude 
which we at present adopt. 

"But we who glory in basing our conduct upon lofty 
principles desire not to win happiness at the cost of our 
fellow-men; and we do therefore declare to be our friends 
and sharers of our felicity all those who are of our blood, 
language and religion, who have heretofore suffered like 
evils as we, provided they acknowledge our absolute inde- 
pendence of Spain and of all other powers; that they help 
to maintain it with their lives, fortunes and honor; and 
that they hold Spaniards in war enemies, in peace friends 
and brothers. 

*'In view of these substantial reasons of policy, which 
urge the necessity of recovering our national dignity; and 
in accord with the rights enjoyed by every nation to destroy 
pacts or associations which do not answer the purpose for 
which governments were instituted, we believe that we 
neither can nor ought to preserve the ties which have 
hitherto bound us to the governments of Spain; that, like 
all other nations, we are free, and authorized not to depend 
upon any other authority than our own; and to take among 
the nations of the earth the place of equality to which the 
Supreme Being assigns us, and to which we are called by 
the progress of events, and urged by our own good and 
utility. 

"Though conscious of the difficulties which beset and the 
obligations imposed upon us by the rank we are about to 
assume in the political order of the world ; as well as of the 
strong influence of the forms and habitudes to which we 
have unfortanately become inured: yet we know neverthe- 
less that shameful submission to them, when we can throw 
them off, would be yet more ignominious to us and more 
fatal to oar posterity than our long and painful slavery; 
and that it is now our imperative duty to provide for our 
own safety and felicity by radically altering the form of 
our late constitution. 



308 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

"In consequence whereof, believing that, by the reasons 
adduced, we have satisfied the respect which we owe to the 
opinion of the human race and the dignity of other nations, 
among whom we are about to enter, and on whose commu- 
nion and friendship we rely : 

""We, the representatives of the United Provinces of 
Venezuela, calling on the Supreme Being to witness the 
justice of our proceedings and the rectitude of our inten- 
tions, do implore His divine and celestial help; and rati- 
fying, at the moment in which we are born to the dignity 
which His Providence restores to us, the desire we have of 
living and dying free, and of believing and defending the 
Holy Catholic and Apostolic religion of Jesus Christ; we 
therefore in the name and by the will and authority which 
we hold for the virtuous people of Venezuela, do declare 
solemnly to the world that its United Provinces are, and 
ought from this day to be, by act and right, FREE, 
SOVEREIGN, AND INDEPENDENT STATES j and 
that they are absolved from every submission and depend- 
ence on Spain, or on those who do or may call themselves 
its agents or representatives i and that a free and independ- 
ent state, thus constituted, has full power to take that form 
of government which may be conformable to the general 
wish of the people; to declare war, make peace, form alli- 
ances, regulate treaties of commerce, limits and navigation; 
and to do and transact every act in like manner as other 
free and independent states. And that this our solemn dec- 
laration may be held valid, firm and durable, we hereby 
mutually bind each province to the other, and pledge our 
lives, fortunes, and the sacred tie of our national honor. 

"Done in the" Federal Palace at Caracas, signed by our 
hands, sealed with the great Provincial Seal of the Confed- 
eration, and countersigned by the Secretary of the Congress, 
this Fifth Day of July, 1811, of our Independence the first." 

It only remained to adopt the tricolor flag formerly born 
by the ever-vainglorious Miranda, and the new little republic 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 399 

was finished and ready for business; and of course the first 
business she was called on to undertake was the shedding of 
much blood, her own and other people's. That is the way 
freedom is born in the world. 

Nearly a year passed, however, in comparative tranquil- 
lity. The Declaration had not been received with unanimous 
approval ; for already one of the main weaknesses of all at- 
tempts to found republics in Spanish America had appeared : 
the mass of the common people were so far below the edu- 
cated leaders in intelligence, and so alien from them in aims 
and ideas, that these leaders stood in a small group by them- 
selves, constituting an oligarchy whether they desired it or 
not. The commonalty were superstitious, lethargic and ob- 
stinate; timid as hares and yet inert. They did not know 
enough to co-operate, and they could not be stimulated by 
an appeal to high and generous principles. They had known 
nothing but despotism all their lives, and were unable to 
understand what self-government portended; they were dis- 
posed to believe that it meant only a new and possibly yet 
more grinding form of tyranny. On the other hand, the 
leaders were full of theories, and of personal political ambi- 
tions; and thus the gulf between them and their constituen- 
cies dug itself, so to say, and became deeper and wider every 
day. An untoward event, in these circumstances, might 
cause the people to change their merely inert attitude for 
one of active hostility; and then the cause of freedom would 
be in serious jeopardy. 

, During the interval, the Constitution was written, and 
presented the usual features of such documents; we need 
only remark that the Holy Inquisition was abolished, titles 
of nobility abrogated, torture forbidden, and the slave-trade 
condemned. An army was decreed, and for its commander, 
Miranda was chosen. KTeedless to say he accepted the ap- 
pointment. It involved posing on horseback, in a showy 
uniform, at the head of the troops, and uttering grandilo- 
quences in and out of season. His star was well aloft, and 
he had reason to congratulate himself upon the contrast 



400 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

between his present position, and his long sojourn in cheap 
lodgings in London. We are not informed that he expressed 
gratitude to Bolivar for having rescued him from the lat- 
ter; probably he thought the young man had been but the 
ignorant instrument of judicious Providence. 

The sudden apparition upon the scene of one Juan Do- 
mingo Monteverde, at that time unknown, but soon to make 
for himself an evil name, disturbed the serenity of affairs in 
the early spring of the year 1812. Monteverde was a native 
of Teneriffe, born in 1772, and now therefore about forty 
years of age. He was an adventurer pure and simple, with- 
out any warrant to be in Venezuela; but he had energy 
enough in him to make himself erelong one of the most 
prominent royalist fighters of the war, and easily got an 
apppintment as general in the royalist army. It was not a 
time for Spain to pick and choose among those who offered 
her their assistance; she was glad to take what she could 
get. Monteverde had little education, but ample self-assur- 
ance ; and he landed in Venezuela with the conviction that 
as between Spain and her colonies, Spain was the one to 
back. Accordingly he announced himself as a supporter of 
Ferdinand; collected together those like-minded with him- 
self, and was soon at the head of a small army ; which must 
have contained good fighting material, for it found no diffi- 
culty in defeating such forces as the patriots were able at the 
moment to bring against it. A battle took place at Oarora, 
a small town fifty or sixty miles east of Lake Maracaibo, 
which resulted badly for the Venezuelans; and Monteverde 
thereupon declared himself the champion of the Royal cause 
in South America. Anything was possible in such times; 
and it was therefore possible that this soldier of fortune 
might succeed in making, himself viceroy of the continent. 
It was worth trying for. 

He was aided, almost at the beginning of the campaign, 
by what seemed a providential event; one of the most mem- 
orable that ever befell in South America. Acting upon the 
superstitious character of the common people, it might easily 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 401 

have been decisive. The 26th of March of this year was Holy 
Thursday. It is never very cool in Venezuela, which at best 
gets its head only about ten degrees above the equator ; but 
on this day the heat was noticeably oppressive; we should 
say, in our scientific pride, that the humidity was enormous ; 
drops of rain actually fell, though the sky was cloudless ; the 
atmosphere was quite motionless ; not an atom of a breeze to 
be had anywhere, by rich or poor. The sun had that red- 
dish hue which reminds one of heated iron, and the watery 
vapor through which he shone was so dense that it was pos- 
sible to look at his disk without winking. The morning was 
intolerable ; but as noon passed the temperature became por- 
tentous, and a deep physical uneasiness seized upon every 
one; causing the heart to thump painfully, and setting the 
nerves on edge. People felt anxious, and were yet unable 
to explain what they were anxious about. 

Being Holy Thursday, the Church monopolized the atten- 
tion of the people, and all the sacred buildings were thronged 
with great crowds ; though in the heated and darkened inte- 
riors the air soon became foul, and many women fainted. 
But the pallid priests intoned the service, and the people 
bowed themselves and murmured their responses. Four 
o'clock had just passed when the great calamity came. 

It began with a sudden sensation on the part of each per- 
son that his brain was swimming: that the centres of his 
being were dissolving. The very pavement of the churches, 
and the solid earth, seemed to be swaying and reeling. But 
as each stared bewildered in his neighbor's face, all saw that 
it was no delusion but a reality; and at the same moment a 
deep and muffled sound was heard, followed by an appalling 
detonation, long-drawn and rumbling, as if the world were 
shaken on its foundations, and were giving way. It was 
not the sound of thunder; it came not from above, but from 
the depths. The congregations started to their feet, stagger- 
ing and white with fear. The awful detonations continued ; 
the tall arches nodded, and the solid roofs collapsed. The 
priests stopped terror-stricken in the midst of their ceremo- 



402 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

nies ; there was a wild and frenzied turmoil on all sides ; the 
masses of people swung hither and thither, striving to es- 
cape; but none can escape the earthquake. They crushed 
together; they were hurled against the stone walls, which 
came down upon them in deadly ruin. The pavement be- 
neath their feet yawned open with horrible noises; mephitic 
vapors arose, and into the abysses the wretched victims 
tumbled headlong. Out of doors the case was hardly better. 
The buildings on each side of the narrow streets cracked and 
crumbled; the breadth of the broad square opened in fright- 
ful crevasses, and sank in dusty tumult. There was no ref- 
uge anywhere, no hope nor mercy. Strange sounds, like 
titanic groanings and shriekings, broke in moaning ulula- 
tions on the ear. The air was thick with smoke or dust; 
the sun, half way down the western sky, hung like a ball 
of sullen fire over the widespread desolation and destruction. 
In a few minutes the city of Caracas, and many another 
town in Venezuela, had ceased to exist, and full ten thou- 
sand people had perished. Vast numbers, with their houses, 
were utterly engulfed in the earth, and seen no more. 

E"ature, according to philosophy, is nothing but a middle- 
term between creature and Creator, and has no reality save 
what is given to it by our physical senses. Nevertheless, 
physical sense occasionally dominates our higher faculties; 
and there are few men who preserve their serenity of soul 
undisturbed throughout an earthquake. We are so much 
in the habit of regarding the earth as the most solid and 
trustworthy of things, and God as merely a remote possi- 
bility, that when the earth gives way, it seems to us that 
God Himself is not likely to be of much avail in the prem- 
ises. We call upon his name, no doubt; but more as a mat- 
ter of unconscious habit than with any hope of practical 
benefit. 

Individuals exist, however, whom even an earthquake 
cannot dismay ; and such a one, according to the chroniclerfei 
seems to have been our young friend Simon Bolivar. He 
had attended the services, along with hundreds pf others, 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 403 

in the church of San Jacinto. When the building collapsed, 
a shapeless ruin filled with death, Bolivar was there, but he 
was unhurt. The first we hear of him is from the lips of one 
who knew hina, a man by the name of Diaz, who in clamber- 
ing over the heaps of rubbish intermingled with corpses, 
came upon the young man, with his coat off, burrowing amid 
the stones and timbers in the effort to drag out some bodies 
which still seemed to retain life. Bolivar recognized him, 
and uttered, according to Diaz, the following rather remark- 
able words: "If nature opposes herself to us, we will wrestle 
with her, and compel her to obey. ' ' 

Diaz regarded the speech as being "Impious and extrava- 
gant"; but his point of view was that of a simple-minded 
Catholic, who could see in the earthquake nothing less than 
the expression of the Divine wrath. Bolivar, on the other 
hand, looked upon it as merely a physical phenomenon, due 
to the explosion of pent-up gases under the crust of the globe, 
or to a sudden shifting of strata. His remark may have 
been, in the circumstances, injudicious; but there does not 
seem to be anything impious about it. And it is historically 
pertinent as showing him to be a man who was not to be 
scared by mortal accidents, but held himself above the brute 
convulsions of the physical plane. He could be stirred by 
the struggle of emancipation of a nation, but not by the 
destruction of some thousands of human beings by a natural 
accident. Death can never do any harm to those who die; 
but a Ufe of slavery may injure people beyond remedy. We 
must concede to Bolivar the possession of a stout heart and 
a clear brain. 

But to the survivors of the catastrophe the earthquake had 
a far different significance. Those who believed, as most 
men did at that time, that kings are a divina institution, to 
meddle with whose "rights" is sacrilege, had already had 
their doubts as to whether the revolt of Venezuela might not 
involve the chastisement of Heaven upon its promoters ; and 
this calamity was precisely in line with their forebodings. 
God was angry with them for abandoning Ferdinand, and 
-18 



404: HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

He had taken this way of intimating it. The priests natu- 
rally encouraged this conviction, and the leaders of the revo- 
lution found themselves in great disfavor. If they were not 
the direct cause of the earthquake, what was? To settle the 
matter, six hundred patriot soldiers had been among those 
who perished : they were crushed in the barracks in Caracas ; 
and six hundred more, who were on the march to the town 
of San Felipe, utterly disappeared from the face of the earth, 
along with San Felipe itself and all its inhabitants. Nor 
was this all. At the town of Barquisimeto, on the fatal 
day, there had been a review of the forces there, which was 
attended by twelve hundred people ; they too had been swal- 
lowed up. The only pious conclusion that could be drawn 
from these events was, that any one who countenanced re- 
bellion against Spain was doomed to the infernal regions by 
a very painful route. 

Moreover, as luck would have it, the evil-minded Monte- 
verde and his army had escaped scot free ; and he was not 
slow in perceiving and taking advantage of his opportuni- 
ty. He was marching against Caracas at the time, and had 
been expecting some opposition ; but the earthquake cleared 
the way before him. Instead of finding foes to fight, those 
who might have attacked him flocked to his banner. He 
took possession of Barquisimeto and sacked San Carlos. A 
second earthquake on the 4th of April confirmed any remain- 
ing doubters as to the attitude of Providence in this matter. 
And Miranda was generalissimo! 

Miranda proceeded to do the most foolish thing that the 
conditions admitted. He sent for Bolivar and instructed 
him to go to Porto Cabello, a fortress in which royalist pris- 
oners were confined, and take the command of it. He was 
not to be trusted to do any fighting in the open ; that must 
be reserved for the matchless warrior that Miranda had so 
often proved himself to be. Bolivar was mortified of course ; 
but he was bound to obey his superior, and to Porto Cabello 
he went. Meanwhile Miranda marched at the head of an 
a-rmy of twelve thousand men against Monteverde, who had 



THE EEVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 405 

with him but a handful, comparatively; and prepared to 
show the world how a great soldier can fight. 

Monteverde had less experience in the field than his dis- 
tinguished adversary; but he was not, like the latter, a white 
rabbit, and his idea of war was to fight. As Miranda with 
his host was marching to meet the enemy, some trifling vol- 
cano or other, in the remote distance, emitted a noise which 
reached the generalissimo's rabbit ears, and caused him 
to suspect that an enemy had fired a gun ! A gun meant 
danger. Miranda instantly commanded the army to halt. 
If that gun had been nearer, and had contained a bullet, 
Miranda's hfe might have been in peril. And what was 
that smoke in the distance. After a long and agitated pause, 
report was brought that the smoke and the noise had both 
a natural origin, wholly disconnected with the enemy. 
Should the army continue its march? Miranda was doubt- 
ful as to that. There was no telling what might happen; 
Monteverde must be somewhere over yonder. At length he 
reluctantly permitted his troops to move forward a little. 
By this time not a few of his men had begun to lose faith 
in the venerable Apostle of Liberty, and there were deser- 
tions, which distressed Miranda exceedingly. So distressed 
did he become, that, instead of any longer advancing, he 
retreated. He came across the town of Maracay in the 
course of this flight from nothing, and ensconced himself 
there, announcing to his astonished army that the campaign 
would "henceforth" be a defensive one. But Maracay, it 
seems, was not defensive enough ; the hero fell back to La 
Victoria, which was as far as he could go. Monteverde 
made a demonstration, which some of the patriot soldiers 
repulsed; and Miranda was besought to follow up this ad-' 
vantage ; but he utterly declined to do anything of the kind. 
Meanwhile came an urgent message from Bolivar in Porto 
Cabello, announcing that the fortress was threatened by the 
enemy, and that it was totally without defenders, though 
full of valuable military stores, which would fall into the 
enemy's hands, should they attack. Would Miranda send 



406 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

a few of his twelve thousand men to secure the place? — Mi- 
randa would not ; he thought he had too few soldiers, as it 
was, to defend him. The next thing he heard was that the 
prisoners at Porto Cabello had broken loose, joined a royal- 
ist force, and turned the guns of the fort on the harbor and 
the town, and had both ships and citizens at their mercy. 
Bolivar, with forty faithful men, had attempted to defend 
the place; but when nevfs arrived that Monte verde was 
marching against him, the faithful forty gave up the strug- 
gle, and departed each his own way; nothing was left for 
Bolivar but surrender or flight ; he had no idea of surrender- 
ing, so he jumped aboard a brig and was off to La Guayra. 
Just a year, to a day, had passed since the Declaration of 
Independence at Caracas. Miranda, shivering in his quar- 
ters, began to think, probably, that those London lodgings 
had their merits after all. But his troubles were still on the 
rise; report came that an army of freed slaves was heading 
for Caracas. Miranda was now ready for anything — always 
excepting a fight ! 

It is said that the devil always appears to a man when he 
is ready to be tempted. The devil now appeared to Miranda 
in the guise of a certain reputed patriot named Don Antonio 
Fernandez de Leon, and addressed him as follows: "You 
see where you stand; Caracas is in ruins and threatened 
with attack; Porto Cabello is in the enemy's hands; the 
population is quelled by ' Monteverde and the earthquake. 
You cannot contend against Spain. Why not end this 
fratricidal war by proposing an honorable peace ? I 
will give you the means of getting safely away; and 
I will myself arrange the terms with Monteverde. You 
have no time 'to consider; it is now or never. What 
io you say'?" 

Miranda cleared his throat, and replied in a feeble voice 
that he was "willing," And the wretched creature at- 
tempted to defend his cowardice by declaring that Bolivar's 
loss of Porto Cabello proved him to be a traitor. It seemed 
that there was to be no infamy of which the Apostle of Lib- 



THE BEVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 407 

erty was not to be guilty. Monteverde in due time dictated 
terms to Miranda, who accepted them ; and the Republic of 
Venezuela was apparently a thing of the past. 

Miranda made his way to La Guayra, where he met 
Bolivar and a few other patriots. He had intended to set 
sail that night, and the ship lay ready in the harbor; but, 
at the suggestion of the patriots, he consented to stay on 
shore till the morning. It had been determined to arrest 
him. At two o'clock in the morning, Miranda being then 
asleep, a party of men entered his room, wakened him, and 
bade him dress and follow them. They escorted him to Fort 
San Carlos, where he was locked up in a cell. The reason 
of this action was that they believed, not without reason, 
that Miranda was a traitor, and intended to betray the pa- 
triots to Monteverde. He had not ratified the treaty with 
his signature; the treaty contained a passage promising par- 
don to all who had taken part in the revolution ; if he had 
left the country without signing, Bolivar and all the rest of 
the patriots would have been liable to execution. They had 
hopes and purposes for the future, and did not regard the 
present subjection of their country as final. But all was 
over for Miranda. 

It is impossible to excuse this man for what he did and 
left undone ; but we need not follow him with reproaches ; 
for his punishment was great. He was passed on from one 
prison to another; the Spaniards got hold of him; he was 
taken to Porto Rico and from there to Cadiz in Spain, where 
a British officer saw him, "tied to a wall, with a chain about 
his neck, like a dog." He lingered four or five years, dying 
on the 14th of July, 1816. He could have made himself the 
greatest hero of South America, had he used the materials 
v/hich were intrusted to his hands. But he was an empty 
windbag ; a man with no heart, no courage, and no realitj''. 
He talked and vaunted himself until the moment for prov- 
ing himself came; then he collapsed like a pricked bubble, 
and there was nothing left. His is a pitiable story; but it 
lacks the dignity of tragedy ; and his conduct cost his country 



408 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

years of anguish and thousands of lives. Few men so prom- 
inent have been so thoroughly disgraced. 

After Miranda's imprisonment, Bolivar fled to Curacoa, 
where for a time he remained as a refugee. But he occupied 
his time in devising means for renewing the struggle; he 
enlisted other refugees in Cartagena, and before 1813 was 
ready to make his new attempt. In Cartagena he had been 
assigned to the command of a little station called Barranca, 
which was under the control of an adventurer called Labutut. 
But Bolivar had no notion of settling down in such a posi- 
tion, and he took advantage of a movement which was on 
foot to march against Santa Marta, and joined himself to it, 
though in a subordinate position. "I disregarded rank and 
distinction," he afterward said, "because I aspired to a more 
honorable destiny — to shed my blood for the liberty of my 
country." The Anglo-Saxon is inclined to smile at this sort 
of rodomontade ; but after all, the test of a man is what he 
does, not what he says; and Bolivar did enough in all con- 
science to justify his worst extravagances of speech. We 
must allow him his peculiarities; they did no harm, and 
may, at the time and place, have done some good. Mean- 
while, in spite of his professed willingness to play second 
fiddle, it proved impossible to keep his superior ability and 
dash in the background. He became the soul of the cam- 
paign. He moved quickly, and took the enemy by surprise- 
New Granada was quick to give him the recognition which 
had hitherto been denied him in his native state. He was 
appointed general, and the small force with which he had 
at first operated increased in size, till it merited the title of 
an army. His objective point was now Magdalena, which 
was held by the- Spaniards, and was of strategic importance. 
He captured the place, and advanced into the interior, driv- 
ing the enemy before him. The Spaniards had declared 
that flags of truce would not be respected; but Bolivar had 
no flags of truce to offer them. He defeated them in every 
engagement, made his way into Venezuela, and on the 6th 
of August, 1813, he entered Caracas in triumph. He was 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 409 

met by a vast crowd of enthusiastic people, estimated at 
thirty thousand, who welcomed him with shouts of "Long 
live the savior of Venezuela!" A bevy of handsome young 
women, clad in white and carrying laurel crowns in their 
hands, advanced through the crowd and took the bridle of 
his horse. Bolivar dismounted, and was, says the historian 
Larrazabel, "almost overwhelmed by the crowns cast upon 
him. The people wept for joy." 

In December of this year a battle took place between three 
thousand five hundred men commanded by Bolivar, and a 
force of the enemy, on the field of Araure. After a severe 
engagement, when the Spaniards seemed to be having the 
better of it, Bolivar, by an unexpected diversion, threw them 
into confusion, and completely routed them ; they left a large 
quantity of arms and ammunition behind them, and three 
thousand prisoners. It was at this battle that the incident 
occurred which gave the name of Conquerors of Araure to a 
regiment which had fallen into disorder at a critical moment 
in a previous engagement, and had thereby incurred the 
reprobation of Bolivar. Anxious to retrieve their reputa- 
tion, this "Battalion without a name," which was in the 
centre of the line of battle, charged headlong upon a triple 
line of artillery, infantry and cavalry, and captured a flag. 
Bolivar witnessed the charge, and afterward complimented 
them upon their bravery, and bestowed upon them the title 
aforesaid. "Whereupon," says the ingenuous Larrazabel, 
"the battalion received the flag from the hands of the Lib- 
erator with a concert of joy and enthusiasm, giving vivas to 
the genius of victory!" 

But notwithstanding these successes, victory was far from 
constant to the patriots. A Spanish general named Boves 
took the field against him, and after devastating the coun- 
try, met the Liberator at La Puerta and defeated him. 
Boves' policy was to exterminate all South Americans, and 
his army ably seconded his efforts. When he gained a vic- 
tory, Boves would remark that his policy had been success- 
ful; there were so many Americans less than before the 



410 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

battle. And when he was defeated, he would still declare 
that his policy was victorious ; for another batch of Amer- 
icans had been slain. And Montalvo, the Spanish war min- 
ister, reported of him that "he does not distinguish- between" 
guilty and innocent — combatants and non-combatants. All 
alike are killed for the crime of being born in America." 
In a massacre at Aragua "children were murdered on the 
very breasts of their mothers : the same knife split the heads 
of both. Or they were flayed alive, and then thrown into 
poisonous and pestilential swamps." Thus Boves prepared 
the way for his remote successor and rival, Weyler. 

Bolivar, after this reverse, retired to New Granada, 
where he raised and organized a new army ; but he fell into 
disputes and difficulties with a rival chief, Castillo, and in 
the end gave up his command to General Palacios and sailed 
for Jamaica, where his assassination was attempted by a 
negro. But it so happened that on the night appointed for 
the deed, another person slept in Bolivar's bed; and the 
negro, supposing all was right, drove his knife through the 
vitals of this innocent person, and departed flushed with 
the pride of fancied success. Bolivar was not born to die in 
that manner. 

He was already plotting another blow for Venezuela. "I 
want to see America the greatest nation in the world," he 
said at this time, referring of course to America below the 
Isthmus. ' ' The states from the Isthmus to Guatemala shall 
form an association. This magnificent position between the 
two oceans will make it the emporium of the world. Its 
canals will shorten the distances round the earth. Let the 
Isthmus be to us what that of Corinth was to the Greeks. 
God grant we m"ay one day convene there a congress of rep- 
resentatives of the republics, kingdoms and empires to dis- 
cuss peace and war with the nations of the globe!" 

Bolivar visited Haiti and made the acquaintance of the 
negro patriot Petion, who gave him help in fitting out his 
new expedition, and advised him, as a first step after landing 
in his country, to free the slaves, "for how can you found 



THE REVOLT AGAINST SPAIN 411 

a republic where slavery exists?" — advice which Bolivar fol- 
lowed. With six ships and a hundred and fifty men he set 
out to conquer back Venezuela from Spain once more. He 
landed at Margarita, where he had the fortune to capture a 
couple of Spanish vessels; and found the people still ready 
to believe in him and follow him. But he returned to Petion 
for more aid; and it was not until the 1st of January, 1817, 
that he finally landed at Barcelona, never more to be driver 
from the country. His time had come at last. 



412 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



II 

THE FINAL STRUGGLE 

BARCELONA is a small town at the foot of the Mari- 
time Andes, on the northern coast of Venezuela. 
Bolivar was open to attack here, but hoped to gather 
a sufficient force from various parts of the country to offer 
resistance. His plan was to march through Santa Fe in 
Granada to Peru. Marino, a patriot general who was oper- 
ating in the south, gave him twelve hundred men ; but while 
the liberating army was penetrating the interior by way of 
the Orinoco, a Spanish force besieged Barcelona, captured it, 
and massacred the inhabitants. Bolivar and Marino had a 
quarrel, and Piar, another patriot general, conspired against 
him. The Spanish general Morillo came up from Santa Fe 
intent upon annihilating the patriot armies. Piar was ar- 
rested by Bolivar, condemned and shot ; but there is no doubt 
that the Liberator regretted the necessity for this action. He 
now convened a Council of State at Angostura, which pro- 
vided for the election of a congress ; this congress, meeting on 
January 1, 1819, elected Bolivar President with dictatorial 
powers. The general opinion was that a policy of wearing 
out the enemy was most advisable for the patriots, but Boli- 
var was not of a temperament to carry out such a plan. 
"Fabius," he remarked, "was prudent, but I am impetuous." 
He resolved to lead his army across the Andes into Vene- 
zuela, and conquer that country, already so often conquered 
by both parties, once more. The crossing of the mountains 
was a terrific enterprise, the idea of which had perhaps been 
suggested to Bolivar by the example of Napoleon, whose 
steps we have seen him following across the Alps. He set 
out on the 22d of June, and after severe hardships, during 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 413 

which many cf his men perished, he passed the lofty crest 
of the frozen mountains, and descended, as if from the sky, 
into the plains on the other side, where he was joined by the 
army of Granada. General Barreiro was the commander of 
the Spanish troops; the antagonists met on the 25th of July. 
With Bolivar it was a question of conquer or die; and largely 
by the inspiration of his personal example, he kept his men 
to their work until the Spaniards fled with a loss of five hun- 
dred men. The victory placed Granada at his back; and 
the really wonderful achievement of his little army aroused 
great enthusiasm. Bolivar pursued the remnant of Bar- 
reiro's force, which at length turned to give battle again. 
The Spaniards had three thousand regulars to Bolivar's two 
thousand volunteers; but there was more dash and impet- 
uosity in the patriots' ranks, and they finally drove their 
enemy with great slaughter, capturing many prisoners, Bar- 
reiro among them. The Spanish viceroy was at this time 
in Bogota, the home of the legendary El Dorado; Bolivar 
pressed on thither, but the viceroy had heard the news and 
escaped. Bolivar occupied the city, issued his proclamation, 
and saw himself master of two republics. He perceived the 
advantage of uniting them in one, and immediately set out 
for Angostura — now Ciudad Bolivar, just south of the Ori- 
noco. He arrived there early in December, and on the 14th 
of that month he met Congress, was saluted with twenty- 
one guns, and made an address. After briefly describing 
what he and his army had accomplished, and eulogizing the 
patriotism of the inhabitants of New Granada, he proposed 
the union of that country with Venezuela. "It is the vote," 
he declared, "of the citizens of both countries, and it is the 
guarantee of the liberty of South America." 

Zea, president of the Congress, replied in an exalted strain. 
"If Quito, Santa Fe and Venezuela," said he, "are joined 
in one single republic, who can calculate the power and pros- 
perity of such a combination? May Heaven bless this union, 
whose consummation is the object of my vigilance, and the 
desire of my heart!" Three days later the creation of the 



414 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Republic of Colombia was approved by Congress, and Simon 
Bolivar was unanimously chosen its Chief Magistrate. 

Desultory fighting now went on for a year or more, when 
an armistice was agreed upon ; upon its expiration, in March, 
1821, Bolivar informed General Torres, who had taken the 
place of Morillo, that he was about to attack him. He had 
fifteen thousand men. The Spaniards were at Carabobo, 
near Valencia, on the high Andes. Bolivar, with eight 
thousand troops, appeared there on the 24th of June. At 
a council of war, held before the attack, a guide informed 
him that there was a little known footpath by which a body 
of men could be sent to turn the enemy's right. Bolivar 
intrusted the conduct of this movement to General Paez, 
who was supported by cavalry. The path was of exceeding 
difficulty, but the ascent was accomplished, and the soldiers, 
falling impetuously upon the Spaniards, carried them off 
their feet, and chased them into the fort of Porto Cabello. 
Paez, who was a Uanero (an Indian of Apache stock), had 
already achieved distinction in war as a cavalry officer; and 
for this exploit he was presented by Congress with a golden 
sword, and raised to the rank of Major- General. "When, 
subsequently, Venezuela retired from the republic of Colom- 
bia, Paez, who is said to have been instrumental in that se- 
cession, was elected its president, and continued in office for 
seventeen years. He survived till 1873, and died in New 
York. 

Bolivar now proceeded to -Caracas, which he once more 
entered in triumph, though the Spaniards had reduced the 
city to desolation. But Bolivar had freed the northern 
states, and was now about to co-operate to secure the free- 
" dom of the south. 
\)^ Argentina, under the viceroyalty, was an immense terri- 
<.^ory, now divided up into the republics of Argentina, Bolivia, 
Paraguay and the Banda Oriental del Uruguay. In 1806, 
General Beresford captured Buenos Ayres; but was after- 
ward defeated by Linares. Montevideo was taken by Sir 
Samuel Auchmuty in 1807; but Whitelock's attempt to cap- 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 415 

ture Buenos Ayres the following year was unsuccessful. 
When Joseph was raised to the Spanish throne, the people 
of this country refused allegiance to him, and in 1813 a con- 
gress assembled and chose Posadas Dictator. The Uruguay- 
ans supported Ferdinand ; but in the course of the next two 
or three years the cause of independence gained ground. On 
the 9th of July, 1816, the independence of Argentina was 
formally declared, with Pueyrredon for president. Para- 
guay, Uruguay and Bolivia established independent govern- 
ments. Spain, otherwise occupied, offered little resistance 
to these proceedings; but what was needed was a supreme 
directing mind to bring these new states into some sort of 
political accord and organization. ' --^ 

The occasion produced the man, in the person of Jose I 
de San Martin. He was born in Yapeyu Missiones, in 1778. I 
He was educated in Spain, and at the age of twenty took ' 
part in a campaign against the Moors. He met Miranda 
in Europe, and imbibed from him the conception of South 
American liberty. San Martin is, upon the whole, the most 
commendable figure which the struggle for South American 
independence produced; if his genius was not equal to Boli- 
var's, he was free from the latter's faults of commission and 
omission. He was not so headlong a believer in the capacity 
of men for self-government ; but he was singularly free from 
the taint of personal ambition, and his life was passed in the 
work of liberating his countrymen. He died in voluntary 
poverty and retirement, having refused Chili's offer of ten 
thousand ounces of gold. In person he is described as tall 
and well formed, and of soldierly aspect; his complexion 
was dark, his features expressive, his hair and eyes black. 
His bearing was grave and courteous, and as a general he 
was cautious, sure and resolute, with an especial talent for 
organization. 

His first work was to bring the military resources of the 
country into effective form. His trained talents were soon 
apparent, and he was called to take the place of Belgrano, 
who had heretofore been the chief general of the patriots. 



416 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Under his influence the loyalty to Ferdinand insensibly 
waned and the idea of absolute independence gained strength. 
San Martin had early formed the purpose of crossing the 
Andes and aiding in the liberation of Chili and Peru. He 
got the appointment of governor of Cuzco, and the work of 
assembling the army began at Mendoza, at the foot of the 
Andes. San Martin's plan was to cross not by the road 
to Upper Peru, but by the Pass of Upsallata, over an eleva- 
tion of thirteen thousand feet. But for the present he kept 
his designs to himself, and left his colleague. General Alvear, 
to command Ine Army of the North, while he himself gave 
his whole attention to the Andean force. 

It was in 1814 that he was made governor of Cuzco. He 
lived with great simplicity, and returned half his salary 
to the public treasury. As a disciplinarian he was rigid, 
yet he was rich in quiet acts of kindness, which bound his 
men to him. The material for an army in this Andean 
region was of the best; rugged mountaineers, accustomed 
to hardships, and indifferent to danger; with a physical 
strength which was not without its value in that compara- 
tively primitive era of warfare. The expenses of the army 
were generously subscribed for ; women giving their jewels, 
and men denying themselves luxuries for the cause. There 
was a magnetism in the leader which kept enthusiasm 
awake. Chili had already — as we shall presently see — been 
fighting for her liberty, and, after a temporary success, had 
been defeated; and Peru was also in sore straits. San Mar- 
tin was convinced that, if he could rescue Chili, the cause 
of South American independence would be won ; Peru could 
not hold out against a victorious army approaching from the 
south. By degrees, as he saw his army assuming form and 
strength, he permitted glimpses of his designs to appear, 
and the grandeur of the conception stimulated the patriotism 
of both army and people; while the discipline which San 
Martin enforced rendered his soldiers the most formidable 
body of troops that had ever been organized for battle against 
the Spaniards. 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 417 

One of the most picturesque and singular figures of this 
epoch is that of Luis Beltran, the mendicant friar, who was 
of those who had repudiated the commands of their superiors 
at the time of the reaction against Spanish cruelties at Lima. 
He was a native of Mendoza ; and though vowed to the ser- 
vice of the Church, he possessed a remarkable mechanical 
talent, and was free of the forge ; so that he was given the 
post of overseer of the horse-shoeing and mechanical depart- 
ments of San Martin's army. He had already served as an 
artillerist in Chili, and when the patriots were defeated there 
he crossed the mountains to his birthplace, carrying on his 
sturdy shoulders a bag of tools which he had made him- 
self. In addition to the commission already mentioned, 
he was made chaplain of the army, and was ordered to 
establish an arsenal, with three hundred workmen under 
him. He took the bells from the church belfries, and 
melted them down to make cannon; and in 1816 this 
modern Vulcan unfrocked himself, and took the rank of 
an officer of artillery. 

On the 17th of January, 1817, San Martin held a review 
of his army, preparatory to undertaking his march. The 
women of Mendoza presented to San Martin a flag which 
they had made, bearing the emblem of the sun. The gen- 
eral, standing on a platform in the square of Mendoza, took 
the flag in his hands and called on the crowd to behold the 
"first flag of independence which had been blessed in South 
America. " Amid cheers, he bade his soldiers swear to main- 
tain it through all perils. This flag was carried along the 
Pacific coast through Chili and Peru, and after sixty years 
it formed the funeral pall for the body of San Martin him- 
seK. But before following its course, we must pass in review 
the events which had occurred on the western slopes of the 
Andes since the war with Spain broke out. 

In 1809, the general sentiment in Chili had been favor- 
able to the claims of Ferdinand ; and the cabildo took counsel 
how best to carry on government during his exile. Two 
parties were developed; that of the godos, or Spaniards, 



418 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

headed by the president and supported by the Audiencia, 
the clergy and the ofl&cers of government, who wished the 
recognition of the Spanish juntas; and the patriots, who 
advocated the creation of a junta nacional de gobierno, to 
rule till the king should return. The leading Chilian families 
were of this party, and they were denounced as rebels by the 
other. In 1810 several leading patriots were arrested by 
order of the captain-general, Carrasco; the people demanded 
their release, but they were hurried off to Valparaiso. This 
led to greater agitation, which the news from Buenos Ayres 
strengthened. Carrasco finally was compelled to resign, and 
Mateo de Toro Zambrano, an old soldier of eighty, was made 
president in his stead. He was a moderate revolutionist, 
and was pledged to oppose the French regency, and to re- 
serve Chili for Ferdinand. But finally the more radical 
element gained him over, and he consented to the calling 
of a congress, which created a junta de gobierno on the 18th 
of September, 1810 — the day quoted as that of the beginning 
of Chilian independence. 

A lawyer, Dr. Rozas, was at the head of the junta; he 
had already distinguished himself in revolutionary affairs. 
He began the organization of a military force, and opened 
the- ports of Chili to free commerce. The office of captain- 
general was abolished; and arrangements were made for the 
election of the congress. During this election, an armed 
clash took place between troops under command of Figueroa, 
and a body of patriots led by Carrera, in which the latter 
were successful, and Figueroa was afterward executed as 
a conspirator. The congress assembled, and passed laws in 
the public interest, abolishing many abuses, and establishing 
military schools." A revolutionary newspaper was published 
at this time, edited by the friar Camilo Henriquez. But dis- 
sensions in the congress itself broke out ; the election had not 
secured an even representation from the different parts of 
the colony ; and the Santiago district was conservative, while 
Concepcion and the south were radical. Rozas, leader of 
the radical element, finally withdrew to Concepcion, and the 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 419 

Santiago faction thereupon named a new junta composed of 
its supporters. 

Meanwhile Carrera and his friends were plotting to gain 
control of the government. He forced Congress to select 
a new junta, by the aid of which he expelled the Santiago 
deputies and put radicals in their place, with supreme power 
for himself. Rozas at the same time effected a revolution at 
Concepcion, and established a radical junta there. Radicals 
were now in control of the country ; but they soon turned 
against each other, and Carrera and Rozas led the warring 
factions. For a while Bernado O'Higgins averted strife be- 
tween the two; but the division of sentiment remained. The 
country was disorganized; Valdivia and Chiloe gave th«ir 
adherence to the viceroy of Peru; and Santiago and Con- 
cepcion were arrayed under Carrera and Rozas respectively. 
Carrera improved an opportunity to stir up a riot in Concep- 
cion, and succeeded in procuring the banishment of Rozas to 
Mendoza, where he soon after died. But though this gave 
Carrera undivided authority. Chili was far from being tran- 
quil. To allay trouble, he put forward a constitution in 
1812, which professed to control the executive by another 
body and proclaimed various reforms. It had no perma- 
nent value, but at this juncture danger from another quar- 
ter took the minds of the revolutionists off these squabbles 
of their own. 

Abascal, viceroy of Peru, learning that Carrera was as- 
suming illicit powers in Santiago, resolved to suppress him. 
He sent General Pareja with a force of two thousand men 
to Concepcion, where he was reinforced by the garrison of 
that place, which gave him four thousand in all. A body 
of Araucanians also joined him, and he deemed himself able 
to do what he pleased with Chili. The Carreras — Miguel 
and Juan — got together twelve thousand untrained men, and 
marched against him. Three actions took place in quick 
succession; in the two first, the patriots drove the enemy; 
in the third there was a stubborn fight, in which both 
sides lost heavily; but the royalists were finally obliged to 



420 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

give way before superior numbers. They took refuge in 
Chilian and made preparations to resist the siege which was 
begun ; Pareja died, and was succeeded in the command by 
Colonel Sanchez, under whom the Spaniards made a long 
defence. Upon the whole, the royalists fared very badly in 
this campaign ; except the force in Chilian, they were driven 
out of the country. On the other hand, there was dissension 
between the Carreras and the junta; which ended in the 
former being displaced, and the command of the army given 
to O'Higgins, then under forty years of age; he was the 
natural son of Ambrosio. He had been educated in Eng- 
land, and, on his return to Chili, lived on his estates; but 
when the revolution broke out, he declared in its favor. 
He won the title of El primer Soldado de Chili, When the 
Carreras were deposed, they started for Santiago to plan 
new schemes, but were captured on the way by the Span- 
iards and taken to Chilian. About the same time, royalist 
reinforcements arrived from Peru, giving the Spaniards the 
advantage. A new campaign was begun with great energy 
by General Gainza, who had brought the reinforcements. 

A brush with the Chilians under O'Higgins and his lieu- 
tenant Mackenna resulted in the discomfiture of the Span- 
iards on the 19th of March, 1814, at a place near Chilian. 
Gainza, however, pushed on toward Santiago, with O'Hig- 
gins after him; and the two armies encamped on opposite 
sides of the River Maule, in sight of each other. O'Higgins 
left his camp standing, in charge of a small force, spread out 
so as to seem large ; and with his main force forded the river 
at night, and appeared in a strong position for attack in the 
morning. Gainza was obliged to retreat, and O'Higgins was 
able to open communications with Santiago, and to cut the 
Spanish Kne of communications with Chilian. 

The war, however, had become wearisome to the Chilians, 
and the government of the junta became unsatisfactory. It 
was deposed, and a former governor of Valparaiso, Colonel 
de Lastra, was invited to become supreme director — another 
of the amusing variations of title by which these unbaked 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 421 

democrats tried to avoid betraying to themselves that what 
they really wanted was a bona-fide king, Lastra was a 
worthy gentleman, well thought of on all hands; and the 
best thing he could think of doing to improve the situation 
was to propose a peace. The terms suggested were that 
Gainza should return to Peru within two months, while 
Chili agreed to maintain a government which acknowl- 
edged allegiance to Spain. Members were also to be sent 
from Chili to the Spanish Cortes. Hostages were exchanged 
between the contracting parties, and the treaty was con- 
cluded; but on the part of Spain it was but a pretext to 
gain time. 

For did Chili herself pay much respect to its provisions. 
The Oarreras, liberated by its provisions, repaired to Santiago 
and restored the deposed junta, abolishing at the same time 
the office of Colonel Lastra. But this act proved unpopular, 
and O'Higgins was summoned to the capital. He came, 
with an army at his back; Carrera met him with another at 
Maypo, and there was an indecisive conflict between the two 
parties of the ' ' patriots. ' ' A more serious battle was prevented 
by the news that the viceroy of Peru had repudiated the 
treaty, and that a Spanish force under Osorio and Mariano, 
one of the best soldiers of the royalists, was then on the march 
for Chili. The quondam antagonists were united by the 
common danger, and advanced against the Spaniards, whom 
O'Higgins encountered at the River Cachapoal; he was 
driven back, and was again worsted at Rancagua, Carrera 
giving no assistance. Of two thousand patriots all but three 
hundred perished. Carrera fled to Buenos Ayres, O'Higgins 
to Mendoza, while the victorious Osorio entered Santiago 
triumphant. He distributed punishments of all degrees of 
severity right and left; and for more than two years Chili 
experienced aU the rigors of a royalist government. 

Had Chili been treated with consideration and justice, 
she might have remained loyal, for there was a large party 
opposed to a republic; but the severity was so great that 
loyalists became republicans. By 1817, all was ready for 



422 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

another revolt ; and it was at this juncture that help came 
from across the Andes; for Buenos Ayres perceived that if 
she did not help Chili that country's fate would be her 
own; they must stand or fall together. And San Martin 
was prepared to bring the needed succor iu person. 

San Martin's principal force was cavalry, in which ser- 
vice his gauchos were eminent. He made a feint of crossing 
the mountains by way of Planchon, thereby inducing the 
royalist army, which was now under the leadership of Cap- 
tain-General Marco del Ponte, to concentrate at Talca; while 
San Martin actually crossed by the apparently impossible 
route of Putaendo and Cuevas. San Martin led his army 
in person; each horseman carried, besides his bag of provis- 
ions, his musket, cartridge-pouch and poncho, and nothing 
else. The very shortness of supplies caused the march to be 
made with extraordinary speed ; three hundred miles of the 
most preposterous climbing and sliding were accomplished 
in less than a fortnight. The army, foot and horse, to the 
number of four thousand, collected at Villa Nueva, and on 
the 7th of February had their first skirmish with the ene- 
my's outposts at Chacabuco. Driving these before them, 
and advancing through a country whose inhabitants greeted 
them with joy and thrust food into their hands, they came 
upon the enemy, to the number of two thousand, strongly 
posted near Aconcagua. The latter had neglected to in- 
form themselves as to the strength of the patriots ; thinking 
it impossible that any infantry could have arrived so soon, 
they arranged their force only to repel cavalry. Too late 
they discovered their error. The whole patriot army rushed 
upon them, O'Higgins leading the cavalry charge, and the 
enemy fled in total rout, hardly waiting to fire a shot. They 
were pursued, and could not be rallied; the oflficers escaped 
to Valparaiso, where many were captured. The ease of the 
victory surprised the patriot leaders, and expecting a more 
resolute opposition, they advanced with caution. But San- 
tiago had been abandoned, and was. entered by San Martin 
on February 15, 1817. Another junta was formed; but San 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 423 

Martin refused to be made supreme director, having an eye 
on an invasion of Peru. O'Higgins, therefore, assumed 
that dignity", and complete independence of Spain was de- 
clared. Numbers of prominent royalists, who had been in- 
strumental in the cruelties practiced upon the Chilians, were 
executed or otherwise punished. An army was sent against 
Ordonez in the south, and he was defeated and shut up in 
Talcahuano. All Chili was now practically in the patriots' 
hands. 

But three thousand five hundred veteran soldiers had 
arrived from Spain, and the Peruvian viceroy Abascal set 
about dispatching another army to the new republic. Its 
command was given to Osorio. He landed at Talcahuano, 
then the last royalist foothold in the country, in the first 
days of 1817. His unexpected arrival checked San Martin's 
preparations for invading Peru. Osorio advanced rapidly 
toward Santiago with three thousand four hundred veterans ; 
San Martin, uniting his forces, had an army more than 
twice as numerous, but comparatively undisciplined. The 
two armies met first near Talca ; and while the patriots were 
executing a manoeuvre, Ordoiiez fell upon them impetuously, 
and in fifteen minutes had them on the run. San Martin fell 
back on San Fernando with the right wing; O'Higgins was 
wounded, and with difficulty reached Santiago. He was 
soon joined there by San Martin, who revived the courage 
of the people by his assured bearing. During the next three 
weeks, by enormous efforts, the army was collected and re- 
habilitated, and took up a position nine miles from Santiago, 
near the Maypo. The royalists appeared on the 5th of April, 
and massed themselves in a formidable line, a mile in length. 
Each side numbered about live thousand men. The battle 
began shortly before noon with artillery, and soon all the 
troops were engaged, the fiercest fighting being round a 
farmhouse, which was often taken and retaken. Osorio 
gained during the day, and by evening it seemed that the 
patriots must be defeated. But as the famous Burgos regi- 
ment, on the royalist right wing, was forming in square to 



434 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

charge, there was a momentary disorder, which was taken 
advantage of by Colonel O'Brien of the patriot bavalry, who 
charged with the reserves and drove the Burgos regiment 
headlong. At the same time the left wing of the royalists 
gave way, and the centre soon followed. More than two 
thousand of Osorio's troops were killed and wounded, and 
the rest were made prisoners, with the exception of Osorio 
himself and a few of his officers, who escaped to Peru. It 
was a decisive and most important victory; it freed Chili, 
broke the power of Abascal in Peru, and showed San Martin 
to be the best general in South America. He immediately 
returned to Mendoza to begin recruiting a fresh army for the 
Peruvian invasion. Meanwhile a couple of war vessels were 
secured as the nucleus of a Chilian navy, and in an action 
with two Spanish men-of-war soon afterward the latter were 
nearly captured, and were put to flight. Another ship, named 
the "San Martin," with sixty-four guns, was then purchased, 
and the fleet was put under the orders of Commodore Blanco 
Encelada. A consignment of Spanish troops, with convoys, 
had been sent out from Spain, but had become scattered by 
a storm, and a frigate and a transport put into Concepcion. 
The "San Martin" attacked the frigate and captured her; 
the transport, with three others, was captured; and before 
the end of 1818, the Chilian navy numbered some fifteen 
ships. Lord Thomas Cochrane was invited to command it, 
and he promptly set to work to man and equip it. The 
design was, of course, to open the way for the invasion of 
Peru. In January of 1819 he was ready, and set sail for 
Callao. For a year he harried the Peruvian coast, and did 
great service for Chili, which was not adequately recognized 
at the time. In February, by a brilliant action, he took the 
town of Valdivia. We know something of the Spanish ar- 
tillery practice; and this may partly explain how the gal- 
lant Englishman succeeded in the teeth of seemingly over- 
whelming difficulties. Though exposed to a tremendous 
fire for many hours, he lost but seven killed and nineteen 
wounded. Valdivia was a Gibraltar in strength, having 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 425 

no less than fifteen forts and one Imndred and twenty- 
eight guns. 

All this while O'Higgins, despite many obstacles, was 
governing Chili with a strong and able hand, and great ef- 
forts were made to raise a force to accompany San Martin 
in his invasion of Peru, O'Higgins showed himself quite as 
skilful a diplomatist and statesman as he was a soldier, and 
by 1820 Chili and Buenos Ayres were in accord, and their 
resources were thoroughly brought out. The executive de- 
partment shifted its place to Valparaiso, as being a more 
convenient point from which to co-operate with the land and 
naval forces; and in spite of the lack of funds in the country, 
the expedition was ready by August 15th. The army em- 
barked at Valparaiso, and extra arms were taken to equip 
the volunteers who were expected to join in Peru. Fifteen 
transports and eight warships conveyed the army of about 
five thousand men. On the 7th of September they got ashore 
at Pisco, the Spaniards falling back on Lima. Colonel Are- 
nales went forward with a thousand men, and an armistice was 
agreed upon, to discuss possible terms of peace ; but San Mar- 
tin would consent to nothing short of complete independence, 
and nothing was concluded. After the expiration of the ar- 
mistice, Admiral Cochrane resumed his^ggressive campaign 
along the coast ; and among other exploits he performed the 
daring feat of cutting out the Spanish frigate "Esmaralda" 
from her berth in the harbor of Callao, and carrying her off 
in triumph under the fire of the shore batteries. Cochrane's 
policy was always aggressive, while that of San Martin was 
to delay, and give the enemy a chance to give ap without 
bloodshed. Both policies were right; for Cochrane, by the 
prestige which he gave the patriot cause, induced the Peru- 
vian population to declare in favor of San Martin, and dis- 
couraged the royalists; while San Martin kept his army 
intact, and avoided the bitterness which great bloodshed 
would have caused. Months passed in this way, and on the 
6th of July the royalist authorities quitted Lima and took 
refuge in Cuzco; San Martin took possession, and proclaimed 



426 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Peru's independence on the 28th. He assumed the title of 
Protector of Peru, appointed a governing staff, and the Span- 
iards soon after peacefully evacuated the country. The 
following year he made his preparations to capture Guaya- 
quil; but Bolivar, who had invaded Quito, was now heading 
in the same direction; and an interview between the two 
men took place. 

Though Bolivar had fought more battles than San Mar- 
tin, and had consequently made a more sensational and con- 
spicuous record, he was not so accomplished a soldier, or so 
trustworthy a man ; but merit does not always tell in national 
affairs. The very greatness of San Martin, however, enabled 
him to perceive that Bolivar would have a better chance of 
uniting the country than he; and he had the magnanimity 
to waive recognition of his own vast services in favor of his 
rival. The two men met at Guayaquil on the 25th of July, 
and had a private interview. What they said to each other 
is not known; but the result was that San Martin handed 
over the government to Bolivar, and resolved to leave South 
America. There was a grand banquet and a ball, which 
San Martin rather deprecated, but which Bolivar, who loved 
to glitter before the public eye, rejoiced in. San Martin's 
toast at the banquet was, "To the speedy end of the war; 
to the organization of the republics, and to the health of the 
Liberator of Colombia." To Bolivar he afterward wrote, 
*'I have convened the congress of Peru, and I shall go to 
Chili the day after its assembUng, for I believe that my 
presence is the only obstacle in the way of your occupying 
Peru." In his address of abdication he added, "The pres- 
ence of a fortunate general in the country which he has 
conquered is detrimental to the state. I have won the inde- 
pendence of Peru, and I now cease to be a public man." 
Speaking, privately, of Bolivar, he said, "He is the most 
extraordinary character of South America; one to whom 
difficulties but add strength." 

History records few acts of so great abnegation and true 
patriotism. San Martin went to Europe with his daughter 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 427 

Mercedes, and for nearly thirty years dwelt there in con- 
tented obscurity and poverty. But after his death, South 
America partly realized the nobility of his character, and 
caused his body to be brought to Buenos Ay res, where it lies 
to-day in a tomb, one of the most beautiful and impressive 
in the world. An urn or sarcophagus of black marble, sur- 
mounted by a sword and mantle, with a laurel wreath and 
a military hat of bronze, is supported on a massive pedestal 
of red marble; round whoso base stand three superb female 
figures, representing the Argentine Republic, Chili and Peru. 
It is a splendid monument; but the man's deeds are a better 
one, and more enduring. 

Bolivar entered Lima in September, 1823, and was made 
dictator of Peru. General Miller, an Englishman, was his 
chief of staff, and Sucre, whom he dubbed "the soul of the 
Army,'* was hiiT alter ego in battle. It was Sucre who, 
after many other distinguished services, won the battle of 
Pichincha, giving Ecuador to the patriots. The liberating 
army, numbering ten thousand men, assembled at Huarez, 
where the final campaign was prepared for : for the Spanish 
viceroy was to make another attempt to win back the 
country. The Spanish army counted about thirteen thou- 
sand men. After a preliminary skirmish at Junin, ia 
which the patriots had the advantage, Bolivar left the 
decisive battle to the care of his subordinates, and re- 
turned to Lima to attend to the affairs of state. The battle 
took place on the plain and surrounding hills of Aya- 
cucho, the royalists being in the plain, the patriots on the 
summit of the ridge. The viceroy commanded in person. 
Miller led the van of the patriots. On the morning of Decem- 
ber 4th Sucre briefly addressed his men, and then ordered 
General CordoYa to charge. There were no manoeuvres 
in this conflict ; the issue was never in doubt after the first 
charge, and within an hour the royalist army was utterly 
routed and in flight. Fourteen hundred of them were killed 
and seven hundred wounded — a somewhat singular propor- 
tion, suggesting that there was little quarter shown to the 
— 19 



438 HISTOEY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

defeated. The royalist general capitulated on the field ; the 
viceroy was wounded. This event completed the liberation 
of the continent, and raised Bolivar to his apogee. The 
Argentine Republic, which had hitherto claimed Upper 
Peru, now rehnquished it, and it was made into a separate 
state, to which the name Bolivia was given. The Assembly 
of Peru voted a million dollars to the dictator, who used 
much of it in liberating slaves in Bolivia. He made a tour 
through the country, arousing great enthusiasm, as might 
be expected from such a population, at such a time. Sucre 
was made president of Bolivia ; and all that remained was 
to give the people of the liberated continent an education in 
their duties as citizens. The lesson is always a difficult and 
a long one; and without prejudice to the scholars in this 
instance, we may admit that they are still learning. 

We must now take a glance at the progress of liberal 
ideas in Mexico. In its first steps toward inevitable free- 
"do.m, Mexico was guided by two remarkable men, Hidalgo 
an^^orelos. Hidalgo, born in 1753, was the son of a farmer, 
went to school at Valladolid, and became the head of the 
College of San Nicholas, In 1779 he was made curate in 
Mexico; but he was interested in farming, established a brick 
manufactory, and secretly cherished heretical opinions in both 
politics and religion. He was a great favorite with the peo- 
ple, however, and inoculated many with his views. A cer- 
tain Ignacio Allende was one of his intimates, and Aldama 
was another. The suspicions of the government were finally 
aroused ; but Hidalgo, instead of taking flight, decided to act. 
He might be called the John Brown of Mexico ; though, in 
view of his extraordinary success for a time, we might regard 
him as a sort of masculine Joan of Arc. There was some- 
thing almost miraculous in his campaign; but an army 
which, like his, is a mere rabble of untrained and ill-armed 
people occasionally accomplishes wonderful things by mere 
accident. They have the single advantage of numbers and 
enthusiasm; they cannot stand against resolute attack by 
disciplined soldiers; but should any chance panic occur 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 429 

in their enemy's ranks, or should they themselves, by some 
fortuity, happen to do the right thing at the right moment, 
instead of the wrong one, they may win astonishing victories. 
In the end of course they must succumb, unless they have 
been able actually to exterminate their foe while they were 
in the way with him. 

Hidalgo started out with ten men on the 15th of Septem- 
ber, 1810, from his home in the little town of Dolores; he 
was accompanied by Allende and Aldama and his own 
brother. They had a battle-cry, which is known as El 
Grito de Dolores: it was "Up with true religion, down with 
false government!" They made their way to San Miguel 
el Grande, their numbers rapidly increasing as they went; 
by the time they had reached Celaya they were fifty thou- 
sand men. With this force Hidalgo ventured on the attack 
against Guanajuato, which he captured after a confused 
struggle, the stronghold being set on fire by a small boy, 
who protected himself against bullets by holding a tile over 
his head. He was now joined by further crowds of peas- 
antry, and by not a few soldiers; and on the 17th of October, 
Hidalgo with his grotesque army entered Valladolid. Mean- 
while the bishops had excommunicated him, and the new 
viceroy, Venegas, was getting an army together to destroy 
him. But Hidalgo was unterrified, and with a following 
of not less than a hundred thousand men, he advanced 
against the city of Mexico. The inhabitants were terror- 
stricken, and began to prepare for the worst ; but the viceroy 
sent forward his trained troops, and a battle forthwith took 
place. 

The royal artillery did great execution; but the rabble 
did not know enough about war to appreciate its peril, and 
kept on fighting, till by sheer force of numbers it overcame 
the regulars, slaughtered them right and left, and drove 
them from the field. Now was the moment for Hidalgo to 
rush forward and possess himself of the city ; but, like other 
amateur soldiers, he was not aware of the value of the oppor- 
tunity; and thinking that he might be again attacked by 



430 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

reinforcements, he withdrew to Queretaro; there he was 
assailed by some troops under Calleja, suffered a reverse, 
and as if by magic his vast horde melted away, and he was 
left, with a few followers, alone. He fled to Valladolid; 
AUende was pursued by Calleja to Guanajuato. Hidalgo 
assembled another horde, but was met on the 16th of Jan- 
uary at the Puente de Calderon by Calleja, who utterly 
defeated him. With AUende and some other rebel chiefs, 
Hidalgo tried to escape across the boundary to the United 
States; but they were overtaken by the Spaniards, carried 
to Chihuahua, and shot. Their heads were then cut off and 
fastened upon the gate of the Alhondiga de Grenaditas, 
where they remained for ten years. Afterward they were 
reverently buried, as relics of martyrs, in the church at 
Mexico. 

The career of Morelos did not differ widely from Hidalgo's. 
He was a younger man than Hidalgo, and had at one time 
been his pupil ; he was the son of a carpenter, and till he was 
thirty followed the calling of a muleteer. It was after he 
reached thirty that he began his education, and was ordained 
to the church; but after a little experience of curacies, the 
Grito de Dolores was sounded, and he cast in his fortunes 
with the rebels. His operations were chiefly on the Pacific 
coast, where he met with many successes, and evinced a 
talent for handling troops. He seems to have been ambi- 
tious of military disiinction, and was perhaps inflamed by 
the example of Napoleon, who turned the heads of many 
likely young men in those days. He made his way to the 
town of Cuatla, about eighty miles from Mexico, where he 
sustained a long siege by Calleja, finally escaping with his 
men by night. "After this, till the end of 1812, he gained 
many small victories ; and he captured the fortress of San 
Diego in August, 1813. A month later he called together 
the first Mexican congress at Chilpautzingo, which issued 
a declaration of independence. He then advanced against 
Valladolid, which was strongly garrisoned, and commanded 
by Agustin de Iturbide. He summoned the town to sur- 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE ^ol 

render, but Iturbide gave him battle and routed him, and 
his army was dispersed. The congress began to quarrel; 
Morelos was closely pursued by the royalists, and finally 
captured ; he was shot at St. Cristobel Ecatepec on the 22d 
of December, 1815. His memory is greatl}'- revered by the 
Mexican people ; and Yalladolid changed its name to Morelia 
in his honor. 

The rebellion was now apparently extinguished; but, it 
need not be said, it was only smouldering out of sight. Vin- 
cente Guerrero had joined the revolutionists in 1810, and still 
continued to keep in the field ; he was in a hundred engage- 
ments, in some of which he was defeated, while in others 
he gained the advantage ; thus he held out for ten years, 
always managing to escape capture. But in 1820 Ferdinand, 
who had regained his throne, was obliged to make liberal 
changes in his administration, which aroused Mexico to de- 
mand reforms. Iturbide, who had hitherto fought in the 
royahst ranks, and had attained the rank of colonel, now 
declared himself in favor of the complete separation of Mex- 
ico from Spain. At this very time he had been appointed to 
lead a force against Guerrero in the south; after several 
minor engagements, he entered into correspondence with the 
rebel leader, and told him that he desired to proclaim Mex- 
ican independence. Guerrero thereupon handed over his 
own command to the renegade, and the "Plan of Iguala" 
was drawn up on the 24:th of February. It provided for the 
exclusive preservation of the Roman CathoHc Church, the 
absolute independence of Mexico under a moderate monarchy 
with some member of the House of Bourbon on the throne 
and the amicable union of Spaniards and Mexicans. These 
principles found general favor among the rebels to the exist- 
ing government, and the army of the Three Guarantees, 
as it was called, gained great strength in the south, and 
advanced upon the capital, where the viceroy, Apodaca, was 
indignantly preparing to exterminate it. But the people 
were against him, and his orders were not obeyed, and finally 
a deputation from his troops informed him that he was de- 



432 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

posed. He left for Spain with his family at once. A sub- 
inspector of artillery, Novella, was installed in his place ; but 
though he issued orders in due form, no one attended to 
them. Santa Anna, at Vera Cruz, joined Iturbide, and 
many royalists did the same; there seemed to be no oppo- 
nents to the new regime; when unexpectedly a new viceroy, 
sent to supersede Apodaca, of course without knowledge of 
what had happened, landed at Vera Cruz and there took the 
oath of office. His name was Juan O'Donoju, a Spanish 
disguise which but awkwardly veils the origin of its bearer. 
Iturbide, who desired no unnecessary trouble, met the viceroy 
on his way to the capital, and prevailed upon him to accept 
the revolution. The two then went forward together, and, 
after receiving the capitulation of Novella, entered Mexico 
in triumph with sixteen thousand men, and without firing a 
shot. 

A few Spanish families left the country upon the instal- 
lation of the new government, but for the most part it was 
agreed to, and went into active operation. Guatemala joined 
Mexico for a time, but later set up for itself. The Mexican 
Congress had its first session in February, but got into a 
tangle at once; great differences of opinion were developed, 
and it became plain that the party of Iturbide was not dis- 
posed to carry out the provision of the "Plan" which would 
place a Bourbon on the throne. While the quarrel was at 
its height, news came that the Spanish Cortes declared the 
Mexican government null and void. Iturbide at once caused 
himself to be proclaimed emperor, and compelled the con- 
gress to accept him as such. On the 19th of May he assumed 
his dignity. It was the end which he had contemplated ever 
since he held his first treasonable correspondence with Guer- 
rero. As Agustin I. he was crowned in the cathedral on the 
31st of July. But, as might have been anticipated, such 
a coup de theatre could have no security. Hardly any one 
really wished the adventurer, who had done nothing to en- 
dear himself to the country, to be its ruler. Feeling that 
a struggle was before him, he dissolved the congress, and 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 433 

attempted to carry on the government personally. On De- 
cember 6th, the Republic was proclaimed at Vera Cruz, with 
Santa Anna at the head of the movement. It was every- 
where received with favor, and Agustin, seeing himself 
deserted, bowed to the storm, and retired. The congress re- 
assembled, and banished him from Mexico with an annuity. 
He wrote from London to the Mexican government that there 
was a plan afoot in Europe to reinstate the Spanish power 
in Mexico, and offered his services; they were refused, from 
motives of prudence, and it was announced that he would 
suffer death should he return. But the unlucky Iturbide, 
counting upon a favorable answer to his letter, did not wait 
to receive the answer, but embarked on a British ship ' and 
landed at Soto la Marina, with all his family, July 14, 1824. 
He was at once arrested and informed that, in accordance 
with the decree, he must die. In spite of his protestations 
that he had not been aware of the decree, he was taken to 
the capital, tried, condemned, and immediately shot, Noth- 
ing in his life so well became him as the way he left it. 
"Mexicans," said he, "I die because I came to help you. 
I die gladly, because I die among you. I die with honor, 
not a traitor. I leave to my children no stain of treason. 
No— I am not a traitor!" 

It was a mistake to kill him ; he had done less mischief 
than most agitators and revolutionists do, and he seems to 
have loved his country. Personally, he was a vain man, 
fond of show, brave, animated, and handsome. Long after 
his death he was called Libertador de Mexico, which he was 
not ; but neither did he deserve to be made a martyr. 

After his removal, the most notable figure of the revolu- 
tion in Mexico made his appearance in the foreground. Santa 
Anna was born in 1792, and was therefore at this time well 
under thirty years of age. It was a season of plots and coun- 
terplots, the country being full of men each of whom had his 
plan for a government, and most of whom wished to be at 
the head of it. General Victoria was the first president 
under the new constitution, and held on for two years ; but 



434 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

after his retirement the conservatives and the liberals joined 
issue with energy. Guerrero was the liberal candidate, but 
his opponent, Pedraza, was elected by a majority of two; 
upon which Santa Anna declared that Guerrero was the true 
choice. Mutiny broke out in Mexico City, and Pedraza fled, 
and the city was set on fire and pillaged. Guerrero was finally 
called to Mexico and given the presidency. Meanwhile Spain 
was sending troops to establish her authority, though the 
Republic had already been acknowledged by the United 
States. Santa Anna marched against the invading Spanish 
army, and forced their capitulation ; and Spain accepted this 
reverse as final. Santa Anna was made war minister and 
commander-in-chief by the president; upon which he turned 
Guerrero out of the presidency, and put General Bustamente, 
who was vice-president, in the supreme place. Guerrero 
resented his dismissal and took to the mountains, where he 
levied war of the guerilla sort upon his enemies. He was^ 
captured by a ruse, and handed over to the government, 
which shot him. He was one of the few men of undoubted 
honesty of this epoch. Santa Anna soon tired of Busta- 
mente, deposed him, and consented to assume the office him- 
self. How he was able to do all these things, no one could 
explain; he was the "Boss" of Mexico. From president he 
was soon made dictator. The further adventures of Mexico, 
up to the time of its war with the United States, were internal 
ones, and need not detain us. 

Before the date at which we have now arrived (1833) 
Simon Bolivar had caused to be convened at Panama an 
international congress ; his idea being that all American re- 
pubHcs should get together to insure the peace and liberty 
of the continent. It was intended to offset the European 
congresses which met to arrange international matters in 
the eastern hemisphere. The first object of the Spanish 
American congress was to take measures for their common 
protection against Spain. The United States, whose so- 
called Monroe Doctrine had showed her to be opposed to 
the establishment of monarchies in the west, or to the in- 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 435 

terference of European monarchies in western affairs, was 
among those invited to send delegates. 

The United States did not respond, but representatives of 
Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Peru were present 
at the meeting, which took place on the 22d of June, 1826. 
Agents from Great Britain attended for purposes of observa- 
tion. Ten meetings were held, and the following agreement 
was arrived at: "The republics of Colombia, Central Amer- 
ica, Peru and the Mexican States do mutually ally and con- 
federate themselves in peace and war in a perpetual compact, 
the object of which shall be to maintain the sovereignty and 
independence of the confederated powers against foreign sub- 
jection, and to secure the enjoyment of unalterable peace." 
But it was tolerably evident from the first that the congress 
was, to say the best of it, premature. The American States 
were in no visible peril of subjection by Europe ; their con- 
stant and pressing danger was in their mutual and internal 
jealousies and conflicts. Their history for the fourscore years 
of their existence has been one confused record of mutinies, 
revolts, coups de main, assassinations, usurpations, and res- 
torations. In several of them, life and property have never 
been secure, and capitalists who have attempted to develop 
their resources have found to their cost that concessions and 
franchises granted by their governments are not worth the 
paper on which they are written ; because the next day, or 
the next year, the existing government may be overthrown, 
and the succeeding one repudiates all contracts entered into 
by the other. The time may come when a more stable con- 
dition of affairs may be established ; and in some of the re- 
publics there is already reasonable security; but the prob- 
abihties are that there will finally be a new distribution of 
political power, with guarantees of permanence. 

Four years after this ineffective congress, Bolivar's power 
came to an end. General Mitre, the statesman and historian 
of South America, who was born at Buenos Ay res in 1821, 
and died there in 1894, draws up a striking resume of the 
fate of the leaders of Spanish American revolutions. He 



436 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

says: "The first revolutionists of La Paz and of Quito died 
on the scaffold. Miranda, the apostle of liberty, betrayed 
by his own people to his enemies, died, alone and naked, in 
a dungeon. Moreno, the priest of the Argentine revolution, 
and the teacher of the democratic idea, died at sea, and 
found a grave in the ocean. Hidalgo, the first popular 
leader of Mexico, was executed as a criminal. Belgrano, 
the first champion of Argentine independence, who saved 
the revolution at Tucuman and Salta, died obscurely, while 
civil war raged around him. O'Higgins, the hero of Chili, 
died in exile, as Carrera, his rival, had done before him. 
Iturbide, the real liberator of Mexico, died a victim to his 
own ambition. Montufar, the leader of the revolution at 
Quito, and his comrade Villa vicencio, the promoter of that 
of Cartagena, were strangled. The first presidents of New 
Granada, Lozano and Torres, fell sacrifices to the restoration 
of colonial terrorism. Piar, who found the true base for the 
insurrection in Colombia, was shot by Bolivar, to whom he 
had shown the way to victory, Rivadavia, the civil genius 
of South America, who gave form to her representative in- 
stitutions, died in exile. Sucre, the conqueror of Ayacucho, 
was murdered by his own men on a lonely road. Bolivar 
and San Martin died in banishment." This, we say, is an 
effective piece of rhetoric ; but after all, its historic or ethical 
value is small. It is easy to get up such enumerations, and 
they may be made to tell either way. Most men who are 
concerned in wars and revolutions die in a comparatively 
sensational manner; but the manner of their deaths has no 
special significance. General Mitre would apparently have 
us infer that all liberators are martyrs. Some of them are ; 
more of them may ^eem to be at a hasty glance; but the 
majority have little to complain of. It would not be at all 
difficult to make out a list of patriots and agitators who 
were quite as prominent as any named by Mitre, who died 
peacefully in their beds, and in good odor and repute. 

As for Bolivar, he was charged with aiming at perma- 
nent power in January, 1830, and, by way of disproving the 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 437 

charge, he resorted to the somewhat threadbare expedient of 
resigning his ''perpetual dictatorship." He was, promptly 
and according to programme, re-elected. His chief oppo- 
nents in the congress were those who advocated a disrup- 
tion of the Colombian union; Peru and Bolivia had already 
declared against him. It was finally voted in the congress 
to give him a pension of three thousand dollars a year, on 
condition of his leaving the country and residing henceforth 
abroad. This hurt his pride, as it was doubtless designed to 
do; he resigned, and went to Caracas, intending to sail for 
England. His friends suggested his heading a movement 
to restore the union of Colombia ; but his health was failing, 
and he had no longer any of that fierce energy which -had 
brought him through so many adventures. He died at Santa 
Marta, on the sea-shore, saying, with the petulance and the 
grandiloquence which were characteristic of him, "The peo- 
ple send me to the tomb; but I forgive them!" The man 
who looks for gratitude for doing his duty forfeits all claim 
to it. The cause of Bolivar's death was not the people, but 
consumption, perhaps hastened by pique. However, a man 
cannot always be equal to his best self ; and we may remem- 
ber that Bolivar, at his best, was one of the greatest sons of 
South America, and did his country immeasurable service. 
The Argentine Republic, when it was constituted in 1816, 
did not include all the territory originally known as Argen- 
tina; three states were cut out of it, under the names of 
Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. After the fighting in Chili 
and the north was over, an Argentine constitution was for- 
mulated in 1825. The two political parties which then arose 
were the Unitarians, answering to our Republicans, and the 
States' Rights party. Rivadavia was made president; he 
was a centralist. There was strong opposition to him dur- 
ing his presidency; and presently the name of a certain 
Juan Facundo Quiroga began to be notorious. This man 
was a peasant by birth, and by nature a desperado and out- 
law, with a touch of sinister genius. He exercised remark- 
able influence over men's minds, and became a sort of free- 



438 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

booting dictator. He murdered, or caused to be "executed," 
scores of men, his own son among thBm. He assumed and 
exercised governmental powers to which he had not the 
shadow of a legal claim. Rosas, a man of somewhat similar 
character, became governor of Buenos Ayres ; he was at one 
time on friendly terms with Quiroga; but in 1834 they quar- 
relled, and Quiroga was hunted down and killed. Rosas 
became the tyrant of Buenos Ayres, but his rule, though 
bloody, was not devoid of good features. Commerce and 
industry flourished; but finally, in a war with Brazil about 
Paraguay, he was defeated and fled to England, where he 
died. His most distinguished successor was General Mitre, 
already mentioned, under whom Argentina enjoyed great 
prosperity, and Buenos Ayres became a great commercial 
centre. 

The early history of Paraguay was a singular one. After 
the separation of the state from the Argentina, a govern- 
mental junta was formed in 1811, of which one Jose Gaspar 
Rodriguez Francia, a doctor of law, was a member. He was 
a man of original force, and gloomy and lonely tempera- 
ment, who, far from all sources of culture, thought his own 
thoughts and arrived at his own conclusions. He possessed 
a domineering will, and the power to control men; together 
with a high administrative faculty. He had been opposed to 
the oppression of Spain, but he did not share the prevalent 
belief that republicanism was the panacea for the ills of the 
people. What they needed, he thought, was a strong hand 
to guide and constrain them; and it was not long before he 
himself supplied the needed element. His ability and deci- 
siveness caused him to take the lead in public affairs, and to 
dominate his colleagues; he was made consul in 1811, and 
six years afterward he' became dictator, with a life tenure 
of the office. His despotism was absolute; but in all public 
affairs he acted for the good of the people, as he understood 
it ; and though he was cruel upon occasion, he was uniformly 
just, and his authority was never seriously questioned. The 
laws he made as to intercourse with foreign nations and in- 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 439 

dividuals were most strict ; any one who entered the country 
did so at the risk of his life ; nevertheless a few Europeans 
were permitted to live and carry on business there. All that 
is known of him, therefore, is derived from the accounts of 
some of these residents, chiefly as digested and reproduced 
by the genius of Thomas Carlyle, whose essay on Dr. Francia 
is one of his most interesting productions. "Our lonesome 
■Dictator," he says, "living among Gauchos, had the great- 
est pleasure, it would seem, in rational conversation with 
Robertson, with Rengger, with any kind of intelligent hu- 
man creature, when such could be fallen in with, which 
was rarely. He would question you with eagerness about 
the ways of men in foreign places, the properties of things 
unknown to him. All human interest and insight was in- 
teresting to him. Only persons of no understanding being 
near him for the most part, he had to content himself with 
silence, a meditative cigar, and a cup of mate." He gov- 
erned until his death, in 1840. 

His two nephews, Alonso and Carlos Lopez, were elected 
consuls after Francia's death. But in 1844 there was a new 
constitution, under which Carlos was made dictator for seven 
years. Dying in 1862, he was succeeded by his son Fran- 
cisco. He is regarded as the worst character in later South 
American history. Charles A. Washburn, resident minister 
of the United States at Asuncion, describes him thus: "In 
person he was short and stout; he dressed with great care 
and precision, and endeavored to give himself a smart and 
natty appearance. His hands and feet were very small, in- 
dicating his Indian origin. His complexion was dark, and 
gave evidence of a strong taint of Guarany blood. He also 
had many of the tastes peculiar to the savage. Before going 
to Europe, he dressed grotesquely, but his costume was al- 
ways expensive and elaborately finished. He wore enormous 
silver spurs, such as would have been the envy of a Gaucho, 
and the trappings of his horse were so completely covered 
with silver as almost to form a coat of mail. After his re- 
turn from abroad, he adopted a more civilized costume, but 



440 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

always indulged in gorgeous display of gold lace and bright 
buttons. He conversed with fluency and had a good com- 
mand of language, and when in good humor his manners 
were courteous and agreeable. His eyes, when he was 
pleased, had a mild and amiable expression; but when he 
was enraged the pupil seemed to dilate till it included the 
whole iris, and the eye did not appear to be that of a human 
being, but rather of a wild beast goaded to madness. He 
had however a gross animal look that was repulsive when 
his face was in repose. His forehead was narrow and his 
head small, with the rear organs largely developed. He 
was an inveterate smoker of the strongest Paraguayan 
cigars. His face was rather flat, and his nose and hair 
indicated more of the negro than of the Indian. His 'cheeks 
had a fulness that extended to the jowl, giving him a sort of 
bulldog expression. In his later years he grew enormously 
fat, so much so that few would believe that a photograph 
of his flgure was not a caricature. He was very irregular 
in his hours of eating, but when he did eat, the quantity he 
consumed was enormous. His drinking was in keeping with 
his eating; he always kept a large stock of foreign wines, 
liquors and ale, but he had little discrimination in the use of 
them. Though he habitually drank largely, yet he often 
exceeded his own large limits, and on such occasions he was 
liable to break out in the most furious abuse of all who were 
about him. He would then indulge in the most revolting 
obscenity, and would sometimes give orders for the most 
barbarous acts. "When he had recovered from these de- 
bauches he would stay the execution of his orders, if they 
had not already been enforced. . . . The cowardly nature 
of Lopez was so apparent that he scarcely took pains to con- 
ceal it. He never exposed bimself to the least danger when 
he could possibly avoid it. He usually had his headquarters 
so far in the rear that a shot from an enemy could never reach 
him. He had another house built close adjoining the one in 
which he lived, surrounded on all sides with walls of earth 
at least twenty feet thick, and with a roof of the same ma- 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 441 

terial. "While all was still along the enemy's lines Lope^ 
would bravely remain in the adjoining house; but so surely 
as any firing was heard in the direction of the enemy's near- 
est batteries, he would instantly saunter out in feigned care- 
lessness, trying hard to disguise his fear, and slink into his 
hole, and not show his face again outside until the firing 
had ceased. At the very time he was thus hid away from 
danger, he had his correspondents around him, writing the 
most extravagant articles in praise of his valor, his sacri- 
fices, and his generalship; and declaring that the people 
of Paraguay could never pay the debt they owed him, who, 
while they were living in security and abundance, was daily 
leading his legions to battle." 

All this gossip is interesting, because Lopez had absolute 
control over the lives and welfare of hundreds of thousands 
of people. It is sometimes salutary to reflect what would 
happen in this world if we were given up without restraint 
to our basest impulses. This miserable little half-breed wal- 
lowed up to his neck not only in all manner of bestial indul- 
gences, but in blood. It is said that he caused the death, 
directly or indirectly, of scores of thousands of men and 
women. His own brother died by his hand, and he caused 
his mother and sisters to be tortured. It would serve no 
purpose to go into further details of his conduct in this 
respect. His political actions were in keeping with his pri- 
vate "ones. By interfering in a dispute between Brazil and 
Uruguay, he brought about the war of the Triple Alliance, 
the facts concerning which are briefly as follows : He seized 
a Brazilian passenger steamer at Asuncion in November, 
1864, and invaded Matto Grosso, a state of Brazil bordering 
on Bolivia. Early in the following year he sent a force across 
Argentine territory against the Brazilian province of Rio 
Grande do Sul, and captured Argentine vessels; but two 
months later his fleet was annihilated by the Brazilian squad- 
ron near Corrientes. A triple alliance between Brazil, Uru- 
guay and The Argentine was formed, and the Paraguayan 
army which had invaded Rio Grande do Sul was besieged 



442 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

in Uruguayana, and six thousand men capitulated. Cor- 
rientes was then occupied by the allies, and Paraguay was 
invaded. There ensued a desperate campaign, in which 
there were successes and defeats on both sides, but the Para- 
guayans were gradually forced back into the northern part 
of the state; and the final battle took place at Pikysgry. 
Lopez made his headquarters on a hill whence he could see 
for miles on all sides, and sat on horseback behind his adobe 
fortification, prepared to fly should his army be worsted. The 
army fought with valor, and the conflict lasted four days, 
when the Paraguayans were nearly exterminated. Lopez 
perceived that there was no hope, and leaving his men, he 
sought safety in flight. While crossing a stream, he was 
overtaken and shot ; he struggled up in the muddy water, 
and was still staggering toward the further bank, when he 
was pierced by a lance. His last words, worth preserving 
under the circumstances, are said to have been, "I die for 
my country!" At all events, his death brought the wholly 
wanton war to an end, and terminated the tyranny which 
had hitherto cursed Paraguay ; so, in another sense than he 
intended it, his words were true. It is claimed that in many 
of his most revolting atrocities he was influenced by his mis- 
tress, an Irish woman known as Madam Lynch. The history 
of Paraguay is almost disconnected from that of the other 
South American states; it did not take part in the general 
movement for independence ; it is still only on the threshold 
of industrial and commercial development, and its only town 
i^ its capital, Asuncion. It is rich in timber, and its other 
staple products are oranges and mate — a drink which is 
popular throughout South Arnerica. The present population 
is supposed to be half a million; fully three hundred thousand 
perished during the wars, and most of the records were lost, 
so that it is difficult to get secure titles to land ; for this rea- 
son, and because there are almost no roads or means of trans- 
portation, emigrants have been few. But the country is one 
of the healthiest in South America, and its fertility is bound- 
less. 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE - 443 

From the year 1822, when O'Higgins assembled the first 
Chilian congress, party dissensions were rife ; the aristocratic 
and the liberal parties being fundamentally opposed to each 
other. Upon the whole the oligarchical tendency in affairs 
has been the stronger throughout. In 1823 there was a sep- 
aration between northern and southern Chili. O'Higgins 
left the country and General Freire finally consented to take 
the office of supreme director. He was disposed however to 
refer all vital questions to Congress, and to avoid personal 
responsibihty ; which had a bad effect. All efforts to create 
an oligarchical republic were futile; it became evident that 
the country was to have another revolution. In 1824, Freire 
dissolved Congress, and became dictator. His immediate 
difficulty was to raise revenue; the expenses of the state 
were more than double its income. Valuable rights were 
sold to foreign corporations for terms of years, and other 
dangerous expedients were tried; but public discontent be- 
came constantly more pronounced. After several ominous 
transformation scenes, a new congress met in 1836, and 
appointed Admiral Blanco Encelada director, vice Freire, 
resigned. It attempted to adopt the federal system of gov- 
ernment as against the oligarchical, and established provin- 
cial assemblies; but these all acted from motives of local 
self-interest, and strong efforts were made to revert to cen- 
tralization. On the 8th of May, 1827, General Pinto was 
chosen chief of the state with the title of president ; his poli- 
tics were liberal. In 1828 a new constitution was adopted 
unfavorable to the oligarchs; and party spirit ran so high 
that it seemed impossible to carry on the government. Pinto 
resigned, and in November, 1829, Francisco Ramon Vicuna 
was elected president; but during the next few months there 
were no less than six presidents in and out of power. Con- 
tending parties took the field, and the fighting and plunder- 
ing put a stop to business. In 1830 was fought the battle 
of Lircay, between liberals led by Freire and conservatives 
under Prieto; the former were defeated, and Prieto was 
made president. A conservative constitution was now manu- 



444 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

factured, giving the president dictatorial powers, yet making 
him the creature of an oligarchy ; and this document is still 
the organic law of Chili. Freire made an unsuccessful effort 
to overthrow the government in 1836, getting supplies and 
aid from Peru ; after his discomfiture, a war of revenge upon 
Peru was undertaken, Peru itself was at this time the scene 
of civil war, owing to a plot to unite Peru with Bolivia, of 
which Santa Cruz was the leading spirit. In two battles, 
the plotters were successful, and Santa Cruz proclaimed the 
confederation. Upon this state of affairs, the Chilians in- 
vaded Peru, captured the Peruvian fleet, and marched to 
Arequipa; but there they were cooped up by Santa Cruz and 
forced to capitulate and declare peace. The treaty, however, 
was at once broken by Chih, which made preparations for 
a new invasion, opposed, however, by the liberals. After 
suppressing the mutiny at home, the Chilian army marched 
on Lima; the army of the Peruvian president Orbegosa was 
defeated; there were three factions in Peru, each opposed 
to the others, so that the country was at a disadvantage. 
Finally, the confederation organized by Santa Cruz was 
broken up, and he fled the country. Chili then entered 
upon a period of comparative tranquillity and progress; 
in 1841 a steamship line, the first in the Pacific, operated 
by the enterprising American, William Wheelwright, began 
to run between Valparaiso and Callao. The government 
receipts now began to exceed expenses. A few years later 
the discovery of gold in California created a demand for 
Chilian wheat and flour, and mining industries had a great 
development. General Bulnes was president during these 
years; his government, though a strong military oligarchy 
in effect, was -favorable to the national welfare. But the 
conservatives were losing favor gradually, and when Manuel 
Montt, also of the conservatives, was made president in 1851, 
civil war again broke out. After months of bloody struggle, 
during which industry and commerce suffered seriously, the 
liberals were defeated in the battle of Loncomilla, on Decem- 
ber 8th. Montt wisely granted amnesty to the defeated party, 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 445 

perceiving that it was still too powerful to be defied. He 
governed however with great strictness, and finally alienated 
the clergy, who had heretofore supported the conservatives. 
The liberals made up their differences, and during four 
months of 1859 war was waged with great fury. The lib- 
erals had many successes, but were ultimately defeated in 
all parts of the country. The leaders of the revolt were 
banished. 

In 1861, Jose Joaquin Perez was elected president, and 
took both liberals and conservatives into his cabinet, at the 
same time issuing a decree of amnesty to refugees. Rail- 
ways were built, and educational matters received attention ; 
but, in 1864, a dispute arose between Spain and Peru, -in 
which Chin took a marked interest against Spain, leading 
to a demand on the part of that nation for an apology. It 
was refused, and an alliance was formed between Chili, 
Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, against Spain. This war, which 
had no intelligible basis, dragged on for many years ; it was 
carried on by the navies of the countries concerned, and its 
most striking incident was the bombardment of Valparaiso 
by the Spanish fleet, destroying ten millions of dollars' worth 
of property, all but one million of which belonged to foreign- 
ers. Spain was not long after obliged to quit, though the 
war never came to a definite or satisfactory termination. 

In 1871, Errazuriz, a conservative, was chosen president; 
but he gradually became more Uberal in his politics ; and his 
successor, ^Pinto, was also disposed to reform. A dispute 
about a boundary with the Argentine Republic threatened 
trouble, but was referred to arbitration, and was not finally 
settled till 1881. The finances were not in an altogether 
satisfactory condition ; but the receipts from guano and from 
the nitrate beds of the Atacama desert were very large, and 
helped the nation over many difiiculties. Disputes with the 
Church were acrimonious, but were finally settled favorably 
to the government. A reform was also made in the marriage 
laws, which were very oppressive. A Protestant marrying 
a Catholic must execute a bond to educate all his children 



446 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

in the Catholic faith; and the lady was compelled to give 
two hundred dollars to the Home for Fallen "Women— infer- 
ring that she herself was no better than she should be. An- 
other difficulty was with the Araucanian Indians, who ever 
since the creation of the Republic had been making trouble 
on the borders, and had never been finally subdued. Pinto 
sent troops to the frontier, but did not succeed in quelling 
the discontent of the savages. In 1879 war broke out with 
Bolivia, and subsequently with Peru, owing to breaches of 
treaties. Chili had made claims to nitrate regions in Bolivia, 
and also in Peruvian territory. They seized Antofagasta in 
Bolivia; Peru offered to mediate when Bolivia declared war, 
but her offer was declined by Chili, who declared war on 
Peru. The latter country and Bolivia entered into alliance. 
The war lasted till 1883, ending unfavorably to the allies; 
Bolivia was forced to cede all her coast region to Chili, and 
Peru had to give up Tarapaca. Important guano properties 
were also given over to Chili ; and her troops then evacuated 
Lima, October 22, 1883. 

The only considerable Spanish colony which had not suc- 
ceeded before this time in getting free from Spain was Cuba. 
The colonists were rendered restless by the revolutions on the 
maiUj but could effect no betterment of their condition. In 
1823 there was a revolutionary movement operated by a 
political association calling itself "Soles de Bolivar"; but 
it was soon put down. Refugees in Mexico plotted to get 
Bolivar himself to head an invasion of the island soon after, 
but this too miscarried. The "Black Eagle" association was 
formed in 1827, but was opposed by the Creole slaveholders 
on the island, and was dissolved. In 1835 Spain was asked 
to permit Cuba to send members to the Cortes; a pretence 
was made of complying with the request for a time; but it 
was soon rescinded. A slave insurrection was threatened 
nine years later, resulting only in the conviction of thirteen 
hundred suspected conspirators, nearly eighty of whom were 
shot. Agitation for annexation of the island to the United 
States was then begun, and was supported by the Southern 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 447 

slave-holders in this country; and in 1848 President Polk 
offered to buy the island from Spain for ten million dollars; 
the offer was curtly rejected, much to the subsequent regret 
of Spain. In 1849 Narciso Lopez, a Venezuelan, tried to 
rouse up a revolution in Cuba; he was prevented, but escaped 
to New York, and returned with an "army" of six hundred 
filibusters. He landed at Cardenas in 1850; but could not 
hold his ground, and was chased back to Key West by a 
Spanish man-of-war. He made another attempt in 1851, 
with Colonel Crittenden to help him, and four hundred and 
fifty men ; he landed thirty miles west of Havana, where he 
was attacked by Spanish troops and defeated. Crittenden 
was shot, and Lopez W9,s garroted. These doings made 
bad blood between the United States and Spain ; and when 
the steamer "Black Warrior," according to her custom, called 
at Havana to land and take on mails and passengers, with- 
out declaring her cargo (as by written order of the Spanish 
authorities she was allowed to do), she was seized, her cargo 
confiscated, and a fine of twice its value imposed. The cap- 
tain of the ship refused to pay, and made his way home, 
leaving his ship in the harbor. Claims for three hundred 
thousand dollars' damages were made by the ship's owners 
against Spain, and, after five years' wrangling, they were 
paid. 

The "Ostend Manifesto" of 1854, declared that Cuba 
ought to belong to the United States, and that under cer- 
tain conditions we would be justified in taking it by force. 
Our government did not sustain the manifesto, though Pres- 
ident Buchanan again proposied to Congress the purchase of 
the island. During our Civil War, matters remained quiet 
in Cuba : but the emancipation of our slaves again awakened 
the spirit of revolt. The Spanish government had been con- 
stantly growing more oppressive and corrupt. The colony 
was being bled to death to nourish the anaemia of the mother 
country. The organization of the Cuban Volunteers, com- 
posed exclusively of Spanish residents of the island, increased 
the ill-feeling; and in 1867 a new revolutionary conspiracy 



448 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

was formed "by Carlos de Cespedes, at Bayamo. It came to 
a head in 1868, when the revolution in Spain occurred. The 
Cuban revolutionists adopted their constitution in 1869, and 
Cespedes was chosen president of the republic. For two 
years the revolutionists met with success, gaining possession 
of the eastern part of the island ; but the Spanish kept send- 
ing reinforcements, and a desultory but inhuman struggle 
was kept up for many years; Cespedes was killed in 1873- 
In the same year occurred the *'Yirgimus" affair. The ves- 
sel was a cruising tramp steamer, registered as American, 
with a crew partly composed of Americans. She had reg- 
ularly cleared from the port of Jamaica for Port Limon; 
but off the Jamaican coast she was seized by the Spanish 
cruiser "Tornado," and brought to Santiago charged with 
piracy. There was absolutely no ground for the charge, 
and the American consul protested ; but the crew were put 
through the form of a trial and fifty-three of them were 
summarily shot. Castelar was at the time president of the 
Spanish Republic (as it then was), and he refused to inter- 
fere until our minister, Sickles, demanded his passports.* 
Spain was compelled to salute our flag, give up the re- 
mainder of the crew, and pay eighty thousand dollars in- 
demnity to the families of the men who were killed. This 
episode induced our government to take measures to stop 
the war in Cuba; and General Grant, then president, sug- 
gested intervention. Finally, in 1878, Spain made a treaty 
with the insurgents, promising general amnesty, and politi- 
cal reforms, including representation in the Spanish Cortes 
— which, however, amounted to nothing. General Campos 
conducted the negotiations. The war had lasted ten years, 
and had cost Spain two hundred million dollars and upward 
of eighty thousand men. The promises of reform were not 
kept, and the state of the island soon became worse than be- 
fore; the cost of the war was put upon Cuba, and the debt 
of the island was increased from three millions of dollars 
to one hundred and seventy-five millions. Corruption was 
shameless, and General Pando himself, in the Cortes, men- 



THE FINAL STRUGGLE 449 

tioned forty million dollars stolen by Spanish office-holders ; 
and the custom-house frauds were reckoned at one hundred 
million in seventeen years. The revolution, though sup- 
pressed, was not crushed out; there were forty thousand 
Cuban refugees in this country, and others in other parts 
of the world; and a Grand Junta was formed in New York 
to raise money and lay plans for a renev/al of the struggle. 
But the discussion of these matters must be deferred to our 
next and final chapter. 



450 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 



III 

PASTt PRESENT AND FUTURE 

THE afiPairs of Mexico and of the United States began 
to be tangled up together as early as 1836, when 
Santa Anna marched six thousand men into Texas 
to- quell the insurrection there. After a few successes, he 
was routed and taken prisoner by Sam Houston and sent 
to the United States, where he was kept till the next year, 
and then allowed to go home; he was received rather coldly. 
He remained in retirement on his Jalapa estates until the 
French invaded Mexico. He drove the enemy out of Vera 
Cruz, losing a leg in the action, and arranged a peace by 
the payment of a sum of money. In 1840 General Mejia 
headed a revolt, which Santa Anna put down, and shot the 
leader. Still another revolution occurred the following year, 
with four parties to it; Bustamente, who was then president, 
Santa Anna, Valencia and Paredes. Each of these men had 
his own ends to attain; while the people of the country looked 
on with entire indifference. Santa Anna was victorious in 
the end, and entered Mexico with a great escort, but amid a 
total absence of enthusiasm. Bustamente retired to Europe, 
and did not return until after the fall of Santa Anna in 1845. 
S|Uch little revolutions as the one above "mentioned were of 
constant occurrence throughout Spanish America, and were 
of no importance except to the ambitious individuals directly 
concerned. They interfered, of course, to some extent with 
the growth and prosperity of the countries in which they 
took place, yet not so much as might be supposed. The 
countries were large, and the men smaU; the common peo- 
ple minded their affairs, and could not have told, at any 
given moment, who were their rulers. Such political chess- 
games, with their little episodes of bloodshed and executionSs 



PAST, PRESENl AND FUTURE 451 

banishments and pronunciamentoes, hardly rise to the dig- 
nity of history, and will be for the most part ignored in our 
narrative. 

The social conditions in the capital at this period are 
described in the journals of the wife of the Spanish ambas- 
sador to Mexico, Madame Calderon ; and fifty years have 
not made any great changes in the spectacle. The Paseo 
is still thronged every evening with the carriages of people 
in society, with gentlemen on horseback or saun'tering afoot, 
with soldiers and beggars. The flower markets are still fra- 
grant, quaint and beautiful; every one is still indolent and 
pleasure-loving. Such a scene as the following may be 
beheld by any visitor to Mexico of to-day, with only minor 
variations.- *'The most beautiful and original scene," writes 
Madame Calderon, "was presented toward sunset in the 
great square. The Plaza even on ordinary days is a noble 
square, and but for its row of shops, which breaks the uni- 
formity, would be nearly unrivalled. Every object is inter- 
esting. The eye wanders from the Cathedral to the House 
of Cortes, and thence to a range of fine buildings, with lofty 
arcades, to the west. From a balcony we could see the dif- 
ferent streets that branch out from the square filled with 
gay crowds pouring in that direction to see a procession 
which was expected to pass in front of the palace. Booths 
filled with refreshments and covered with green branches 
and garlands of flowers were to be seen in all directions, 
surrounded by crowds quenching their thirst with orgeat, 
lemonade, or pulque. The whole square is covered with 
thousands of figures. in their gayest dresses; and as the sun 
poured his rays upon the gaudy colors they. looked like 
armies of living tulips. Here was a group of ladies, some 
in black gowns and mantillas ; others, now that their church- 
going duties were over, equipped in velvet or satin, with 
their hair dressed — and beautiful hair they have! — some 
leading their children by the hand, dressed — alas, how those 
children were dressed! Long velvet gowns trimmed with 
blonde, diamond earrings, high French caps befurbelowed 
— 20 



452 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

with lace and flowers, or turbans with plumes of feathers! 
Now and then the head of a little thing hardly able to wad- 
dle alone might have belonged to an English dowager duch- 
ess in her opera-box. Some had extraordinary bonnets, and 
as they toddled along, top-heavy, one would have thought 
them little old women, but for the glimpse of their lovely 
little brown faces and blue eyes. The children here are very 
beautiful; they have little color, with swimming black or 
hazel eyes, and long lashes resting on the clear, pale cheek, 
and a mass of fine dark hair plaited down behind. As a 
contrast to the senoras with their overdressed beauties were 
the poor Indian women, trotting across the square, their 
black hair plaited with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woollen 
cloth wrapped round them, and a little mahogany baby 
hanging behind, its face upturned to the sky, and its head 
Jerking along, somehow, without its neck being dislocated. 
The most resigned expression on earth is that of a Mexican 
Indian baby. All these groups are collected by hundreds; 
the women of the shopkeeper class in their small, white em- 
broidered gowns, with white satin shoes and neat feet and 
ankles, rebozos or bright shawls thrown over their heads; 
the peasants and countrywomen with short petticoats of two 
colors, generally scarlet and yellow, thin satin shoes and lace- 
trimmed chemises; or bronze-colored damsels crowned with 
flowers, strolling along, tinkling light guitars. Add to this 
crowd men dressed in the Mexican style with large orna- 
mented hats and serapes, or embroidered jackets, saunter- 
ing along, smoking their cigars; leperos in rags, Indians in 
blankets, ofticers in uniform, priests in their shovel hats, 
monks of every order; Frenchmen exercising their wit upon 
the passers-by ; Englishmen looking on cold and philosophi- 
C5al; Germans gazing mild and mystical through their spec- 
tacles ; Spaniards seeming pretty much at home, abstaining 
from remarks. Suddenly the tinkling of a bell announces 
the approach of Nuestro Amo (the Host). Instantly the 
crowd are on their knees crossing themselves devoutly. 
Disputes are hushed, flirtations arrested, and to the hum 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 4o3 

of voices succeeds a deep silence, filled only by the rolling 
of coach wheels and the sound of the little bell." 

Madame Calderon was a good observer. She also refers 
to the prevalent brigandage, the result of the disorders occa- 
sioned by the civil wars, which made travel anywhere in 
Mexico dangerous at that period. It has since then been 
extirpated by Diaz, who agreed to pay the leaders of the 
brigands as much as they got "by robbery, in the shape of 
wages for preventing disorders throughout the country. 
The thieves became mounted policemen, and travel ia 
most districts is safe. 

But a time was at hand when Mexico was to learn what 
war really is. They had escaped almost entirely the experi- 
ence which the other Spanish American colonies had under- 
gone, of serious fighting against the soldiers of the mother 
country — by which at least they might have learned what 
fighting against regular troops means. They had been pitted 
only against one another, and of course, one Mexican was as 
good or as bad as another ; and the only result of these con- 
flicts was to famiHarize them with bloodshed and the smell 
of gunpowder. Of the science of modern warfare they knew 
very little. They were destined to learn something of it 
at the hands of the only real republic of the west; and the 
result was to be salutary and explicit. It was .to apprise 
them that, instead of wasting their time and their lives in 
foolish and empty fratricidal quarrels, they would better 
turn to and develop the resources of the magnificent coun- 
try, sink their petty differences, and try to become a real 
nation. 

The trouble arose in this wise: From the era of the 
'Twenties, American colonists had been pouring into the 
.vast, indeterminate region of Texas, until the Americaus 
there greatly outnumbered the Mexicans. These colonists 
occupied lands regularly granted to them by the Mexican 
government ; they were occupied with their own affairs, and 
paid no heed to the chopping and changing governments in 
Mexico City. Finally, in 1844, they resolved to erect them- 



454 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

selves into an independent republic, and by the help of Sam 
Houston they did so, in spite of all that Santa Anna could 
do to prevent it. The next step was to become annexed to 
the United States; but here the Texans were confronted 
with the opposition not of Santa Anna so much as of the 
anti-slavery party in this country, which feared an exten- 
sion of slavery in Texas. The annexation took place never- 
theless ; and for some sentimental reason apparently, for there 
was no reason based on law, Mexico regarded the act as an 
affront to her. She announced that she regarded the ratifi- 
cation of the treaty of annexation as an act of war on our 
part against her. Incredible as it would seem, had we not 
the more recent example of Spain's folly before our eyes, 
Mexico undoubtedly believed that she was able to bring us 
to our knees and exact what penalty for our "insult" to her 
honor she saw fit. Of common soldiers she certainly pos- 
sessed a sufficient supply, and they were hardy and spunky 
little creatures ; of officers she had far too many ; but they 
were not educated in the science of their trade, and were 
nearly all accomplished thieves, in this respect rivalling the 
Spaniards themselves; their stealings of course being from 
the resources of their own government. The arms of the 
army were for the most part not of the latest pattern, and 
were not kept in good order. Navy there was none. One 
advantage over us they had: The war was popular with 
them, whereas our Northern States were seriously opposed 
to it. It was carried on, therefore, chiefly by troops from 
our South, though they were led by officers from both sides 
of Mason and Dixon's line. 

The war began in the spring of 1846, General Taylor 
being the commander on our side. In consequence of the 
ambuscading of a reconnoitring party which Taylor had 
sent out along the Texan side of the Rio Grande, which was 
followed by the crossing of that river by the Mexican army, 
Taylor gave them battle at Palo Alto and at Resaca de la 
Palma, totally defeating them on both occasions. Camp 
equipage, personal baggage, correspondence, and everything 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 455 

else was abandoned in the enthusiasm of their flight, and 
more than a thousand dead bodies of Mexican warriors were 
left upon the field. The war might have ended then and 
ihere, had not the Mexican president, who proposed a con= 
ference with a view to peace, been superseded by a new 
president before our commissioners could reach the Mexican 
capital to conclude the matter. The war had to go on ; and 
now that American blood had been spilled, there was no 
difficulty in any part of the States about supporting our 
army in the field. The Mexicans being no longer in Texas, 
the only thing to do was to follow them into their own 
country. 

As we have already observed, the territory of '-New 
Spain" covered originally the vast regions now occupied by 
the States not of Texas only, but of New Mexico, California 
and Arizona. Our plan in the war was to invade the heart 
of the enemy's country, and dictate terms ©t peace at the 
city of Mexico ; and meanwhile to take possession of aU these 
outlying regions, and hold them as indemnity. 

Accordingly we sent a fleet to the Californian coast, which 
took possession of the town of Monterey, and hoisted the 
American flag ; Colonel Fremont was also in California, and 
the fleet acted in conjunction with him. There was no resist- 
ance to these acts, for there was no power of resistance among 
the scattered Mexican inhabitants. It was a mere bloodless 
occupation of the country; and never perhaps was so rich 
a territory so easily captured from an enemy before. Rein- 
forcements had meanwhile been dispatched to Taylor, who 
advanced to the large inland town also called Monterey, in 
the State of Nueva Leon. Here was General Ampudia with 
ten thousand men and plenty of ammunition, and the moun- 
tainous ridge above the city and other natural features ren- 
dered it easily defensible. The Americans had but sixty-five 
hundred men, not enough to invest the place : and the Mexi- 
cans were certain that this time they were sure to annihilate 
us. The Americans attacked, and kept up the assault for 
four days, when the citadel was taken, and the Mexicans 



46(5 HISTOtlY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

who were left alive fled to Saltillo. The impossible had been 
accomplished with the loss of but one hundred and twenty 
officers and men killed on our side, while fully one thousand 
of the enemy fell. But Ampudia, as soon as he had recov- 
ered his breath from his flight, issued a proclamation account- 
ing for the defeat by ascribing it to a series of extraordinary 
accidents, and assuring his countrymen that, as soon as his 
army got seriously to work, it would have no difficulty in 
exterminating the invaders. As for Monterey, he asserted 
that the place had no value. The Mexican army itself, how- 
ever, had begun to entertain a suspicion that possibly Amer- 
ican soldiers could fight after all; and meanwhile Ampudia 
continued his retrograde movement to San Luis de Potosi. 

At this stage of the game a curious interlude took place, 
Paredes, president at this moment, planned to change the 
form of government to a monarchy ; and busied himself at 
the capital wholly with preparations to carry out this scheme, 
letting the invasion of his country and the rout of his army 
pass without notice. Santa Anna, then in Havana, hearing 
of this design, and disapproving of it, sent word that he sup- 
ported the constitution of 1834, and would, if invited, come 
over and argue the matter in the field. Upon this news be- 
ing conveyed to Washington, Polk, who wished to avoid all 
needless bloodshed, and of course deprecated the establish- 
ment of a monarchy on western soil, proposed that Santa 
Anna should be supported as against Paredes, and to that 
end should be permitted freely to enter Mexico. This was 
good diplomacy; but it showed ignorance of the character 
of Santa Anna. The latter landed at Vera Cruz, the gar- 
rison of which pronounced in his favor, as did the population 
of the capital, and Paredes was made prisoner. But Santa 
Anna now declared himself opposed not only to Paredes, but 
to the United States likewise; and he further announced that 
he came to fight at the head of the army, and not to accept 
political power. He was enthusiastically received, and 
marched with an army to San Luis de Potosi, where he 
proceeded to organize resistance to the Americans. 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 457 

But notliing availed. Santa Anna lost the battle of Buena 
Vista, and General Winfield Scott landed at Vera Cruz with 
another army and began that extraordinary series of victories 
which brought him at last to the valley of Mexico. At every 
^tep, peace was offered to the Mexicans, but they were bent 
upon their own destruction, and refused to treat. The great 
difficulty was to raise funds ; and it was finally decided to 
levy on the enormous property which the Church had been 
laying up for centuries. The priests of course protested as 
vehemently as they dared, and there was a reluctance on the 
part of the people to force them ; besides, much of the prop- 
erty was in real estate, which could not at once be turned 
into cash. Little was. therefor© obtained by this device, 
though, later, the Church lost most of its wealth through 
government exactions. But Santa Anna, in one way or an- 
other, managed to keep an army in the field; and having 
accepted the presidency after his defeat at Buena Vista, hur- 
ried to oppose Scott's advance along the road from Vera 
Cruz. He met his second defeat at Cerro Gordo, and fell 
back to Puebla ; but his army had dissolved, and he could 
not persuade the Poblanos to support him with another. 
Scott, therefore, occupied the place without a battle. Santa 
Anna fled to Mexico City, where he felt that he must make 
a success or fail for evermore. To avert jealousies, he re- 
signed his presidency, and was rewarded by being made 
dictator. He then made his final appeal to the country, and 
it was answered with an army of twenty-five thousand men ; 
and once more the Mexican heart was fired with hope. Surely 
these barbarous invaders would fail to capture the capital, 
defended by -the whole strength of the country ! And if they 
could but be defeated, not one of them should reach home 
alive. 

Scott came quietly along, and reached the environs of 
Mexico in August. Santa Anna had fortified the bridge and 
church of Churubusco, four miles south of the city, and 
erected a barrier across the road by which the Americans 
must advance; but General "Worth caused the same Indians 



458 - HISTORY OF SPANISH ASIERICA 

who had erected it to tear it down again. On the Ihth of 
August the battle took place, and the defeat of the Mexicans 
was if possible more than usually thorough. Many of their 
most eminent men perished; and the Mexicans afterward, 
not having any victory to celebrate, actually celebrated this 
defeat by the erection of a monument to the fallen ; appa- 
rently on the principle that the more men are killed in a bat- 
tle, the greater is the glory of losing it. There was plenty 
of glory of this kind for the Mexicans in the war. Molino 
del Rey. under the guns of Chapultepec, was the next strong- 
hold to fall. Chapultepec itself alone remained, and it was 
considered wholly impregnable ; but it had already been es- 
tablished that nothing was impregnable which was defended 
by Mexicans and attacked by Americans, The place was 
captured by General Pillow on the 13th of September: the 
city was entered a few days later, and the war was ovei-, 
all but the negotiations over the peace treaty. In this the 
Mexicans showed to better advantage than on the field ; and 
though Mexican territory was restricted to its present dimen- 
sions, Santa Anna contrived to induce our government to pay 
fifteen million dollars under the name of indemnity. Thus 
was exemplified the truth of the remark by Tennyson, that 
*'the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that honor feels" ; 
especially when the honor is of the Spanish strain. We have 
lately applied the same salve to wounded Spanish suscepti- 
biUties in the matter of the Philippine Islands. But the 
Mexicans Httle knew what they were disposing of for this 
price. Ko sooner had California become ours than, as if to 
show her satisfaction, she opened her bosom, and revealed 
incalculable wealth of gold. Every acquisition of territory 
which we have made has turned out to be fortunate beyond 
aU anticipation. There is no reason to fear that our latest 
ones will be otherwise. 

From 1848 to 1857 there was little notable in Mexican 
affairs, though during that time Santa again came to the 
surface for a moment as dictator; Herrera and Arista exer- 
cised the powers of government moderately and beneficially. 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 459 

and Benito Juarez, an Aztec Indian, proved .himself an abla 
and liberal ruler, with a strong conviction that Church prop- 
erty, of the non-spiritual sort, should be handed over to the 
State. A new constitution, declaring that the source of gov- 
ernment was in the people, was introduced at this time, and 
might have been generally accepted, but for the episode of 
the French intervention. 

Mexican enemies, chiefly of the clerical and military par- 
ties, had exiled themselves to Europe when President Juarez 
and his hberal constitution came to power; and there they 
set to work to plot against him. Napoleon III. was made 
privy to their consultations, and a scheme was formed to im- 
pose upon Mexico a sovereign selected from some reigning 
family; he was to be enthroned by French influence and 
power, and his empire would be, in effect, a French empire. 
In other words, Napoleon was planning for his own exalta- 
tion and the glory of the French nation ; and the other plotters 
were willing to accept help on any terms, provided only that 
Jaurez and his liberalism were done away with. 

Turning now to the practical side of the matter, it was 
seen that the United States could offer no substantial resist- 
ance, because she was over head and ears in her Civil War; 
and should the issue of that struggle be in favor of the South, 
it was unlikely she would ever interfere at all ; in any event, 
she would hesitate before disturbing a fait accompli. The 
Monroe Doctrine was nothing but a doctrine, and there was 
nothing to show that the United States would spend blood 
or money to uphold it. It only remained therefore for Napo- 
Jeon to find a pretext for getting a foothold in Mexico; that 
done, the rest could be made to follow with seeming inevi- 
tableness. The pretext was at hand ; Mexico had borrowed 
sums of money from European governments during her time 
of need, and Napoleon would demand guarantees for the 
repayment of the debts due to France, meanwhile landing 
troops to remain pending settlement. In order to lend dig- 
nity to this impudent proceeding, England and Spain, who 
also held Mexican bonds, and many of whose subjects resided 



460 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

in Mexico, were requested by the shrewd French emperor to 
associate themselves with the French in a *' demonstration'* 
■ — nothing of course being hinted as to the ulterior object of 
the enterprise. They accepted the suggestion in good faith, 
and a combined French, English and Spanish fleet entered 
the harbor of Vera Cruz, and summoned the Mexican presi- 
dent to comply with their demands. Juarez was not un- 
versed in diplomatic resources, and he somewhat took the 
wind out of the sails of the allies by at once acceding to their 
proposition. The English and the Spanish thereupon retired ; 
but the French remained, pretext or no pretext ; and grad- 
ually the real cause of their presence began to leak out. As 
soon as it was realized, Mexico divided up into two hostile 
camps, one opposing the invaders, the other favoring them. 
Napoleon sent reinforcements, and many Mexican troops, un- 
der the leadership of General Miramon, ranged tl;iemselves 
with them. 'Juarez was forced to fight, and he raised a small 
army, which valiantly disputed the French advance on the 
capital ; and on the 5th of May occurred a battle at Puebla 
in which the patriots under General Zaragoza defeated a su- 
perior French force under General Lorencez. This '*CiQCO 
de Mayo" is still celebrated by the Mexicans, who, in truth, 
have few episodes in their military history which so well 
justify self -congratulation. But they had no chance against 
the French ; and the latter soon after captured the Cerro de 
Borrego by a brilliant surprise, recalling WoKe's exploit at 
Quebec. Soon after, the French entered the capital, and 
it was all over. It was a very clever, contemptible little 
plot, deftly carried out. Meanwhile Kapoleon had selected 
his puppet emperor in the person of Maximilian, a prince of 
the house of Austria; a mild, innocent, romantic youth, 
a religious bigot, and a helpless prey to the feeble vanities 
of imperialism. This lamentable being ascended the throne 
of the Montezumas with all available pomp and ceremony; 
and he would have remained nothing more than a historical 
absurdity to this day, had he not, in the sequel, been digni- 
fied by the sentence of death which was pronounced and 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 4G1 

executed upon him by tlie leaders of the revolution which 
overthrew him. He was from the first at war with perhaps 
a majority of his alleged subjects; and in 1867, when the 
United States had settled its internal troubles, it conveyed 
a strong hint to Napoleon that unless French troops were 
immediately withdrawn from Mexican soil, the terrible army 
of veterans which had just finished the greatest war of the 
century would be let loose upon them. Napoleon, who was 
seldom a fool, took the hint at once; and Maximilian was 
thus left unprotected. He was shot at Queretaro on the 19th 
of June, 1867. 

Juarez now resumed his interrupted administration, and 
was made dictator; but died suddenly in 1872. Then began 
the last chapter, up to this time, of Mexican history. Dur- 
ing the midsummer of 1876 a fresh revolution suddenly broke 
out, with Porfirio Diaz at its head. This man was an Indian 
like Juarez, and his career as a soldier had been honorable 
and distinguished. He had fought against the French in- 
vasion, and after the death of Maximilian had been a candi- 
date for the presidency ; and when Juarez defeated him he 
ranged himself with the opposition. He was now in the 
prime of life, and was possessed of far more ability of various 
kinds than his best friends yet gave him credit for. The war 
was waged after the usual manner of these civil conflicts in 
Mexico; Diaz prevailed, and in 1877 he was chosen president 
for three years. Save for an interlude in 1880 to 1884, dur- 
ing which his friend and creature Manuel Gonzales occupied 
the office, Diaz has been the actual and visible head of the 
so-called republic; and his reign has been almost entirely 
beneficial. There have been no more revolutions, "plans" 
or pronunciamentoes. The country has immensely increased 
in prosperity and civilization; and had the other Spanish 
American states' equalled or even nearly approached Mexico 
in progress and development, there would be good ground 
for hoping that the Latin race in America might have a 
future. It still remains to be seen what will happen after 
Diaz's death: and he is now all but seventy years of age. 



462 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

We can hardly expect a successor like himself; but possibly 
the people have grown wise during their long peace, and 
have lost that fatal proclivity for "plans" and their sequels 
which were the curse of the country for more than half a 
century. 

Central America is a term applied collectivelj'" to the 
republics of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua 
and Costa Rica, which, from 1823 to 1839, formed a federal 
republic. Their poUtical history since then has been full 
of petty vicissitudes, quarrels between rival presidents, and 
over disputed boundaries. None of these disputes or wars 
has had any permanent significance beyond the interest of 
those immediately concerned, except that they have para- 
lyzed to a great extent the industrial life of the inhabitants, 
and have prevented the employment of foreign capital in 
exploiting their resources. The name Guatemala was orig- 
inally apphed to a region including all the present Central 
American States, and the Isthmus of Panama and Yucatan. 
Modern Guatemala declared its independence in 1821, joined 
Iturbide, and formed part of the Confederation from 1823 to 
1847, when it was established as an independent republic; it 
has had several wars with Honduras and Salvador. Hon- 
duras was a member of the Central American union from 
1824 to 1839, since when it has been independent. Besides 
its own political revolutions, it has waged wars with Salva- 
dor, Nicaragua and Guatemala. It is a country of many 
mountains and plateaus, where the climate is temperate and 
agreeable, and exceedingly healthful. It has a quadrennial 
president and one house; it would be an excellent field for 
investment were its government stable. Its inhabitants are 
chiefly Mestizos or Indians. The modern history of Salvador 
is much like that of Honduras, and it has been almost con- 
stantly embroiled during its existence either with its rulers 
or its neighbors. Its inhabitanis are mainly Indian or half- 
breeds, only five per cent being white; it has no manufact- 
ures to speak of, and its exports are coffee, hides, sugar, 
indigo and Peruvian balsam. Costa Rica is a mountainous 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 463 

country, whose chief export and business is coffee. It bor- 
ders on the Caribbean, and was one of the "rich coasts" 
which aroused the golden dreams of the Spanish discover- 
ers; but little of value to the world has been derived from 
it as yet. Finally, there is Nicaragua, which circumstances 
have brought into prominent notice for many years past, and 
concerning which we may speak more in detail. 

The capital of Nicaragua is Managua, and its chief city 
is Leon, both on the Pacific coast ; but the state has also a 
Caribbean shore. From southeast to northwest it is trav- 
ersed by a depression, which includes the river San Juan 
and lakes Nicaragua and Managua; thus giving a water- 
way from the Caribbean to the Pacific, with the exception 
of a few miles. The eastern coast is low ; the country con- 
tains many volcanoes, and is subject to earthquakes. It 
produces gold and silver, and exports the usual Central 
American products. It is governed by a president chosen 
for four years, and its congress consists of a senate and a 
chamber of deputies. It has been an independent republic 
since 1840, and has enjoyed the inevitable series of revolts 
and wars which belong to the region. In 1855 it was invaded 
by William Walker, the famous filibuster, who took advan- 
tage of its distracted condition to realize his purposes of con- 
quest. He had with him fiftj^-eight men; but he defeated 
the local commander, Guardiola, on September 3d, and cap- 
tured Granada, the capital. The next year he was made 
president; but the other states combined against him, and 
he was constantly defeated, and finally he burned and aban- 
doned Granada in 1857, and fled to Panama. Two efforts 
to recover the country failed, and in 1860 he was captured 
and shot in Honduras. 

So far back as the last century the idea of making a canal 
through Nicaragua has been entertained and discussed, and 
vast sums of money have been spent in preliminary surveys 
and tentative excavations. Manuel Galisteo, in 1781, made 
an exploration and survey with this aim in view, at the 
instance of the Spanish Cortes; in 1826 De Witt Clinton had 



464 HISTOElT OF SPANISH AMERICA 

a full survey made; O. "W. Childs of Philadelphia did the 
same in 1851, with Cornelius Vanderbilt to help him. Gen- 
eral Grant, when president, caused a commission to report 
on the cost of the work, and the commission determined 
it to be about one hundred and forty million dollars. But 
by none of these suggesters or promoters were any steps 
taken to carry the enterprise to realization. They looked 
it over, and then left it. 

In 1849, 1858, and ]880 the government of Nicaragua 
granted concessions to American and French parties to dig 
the canal; but nothing came of them. In 1884 a contract 
was signed for the building of the canal by the United States, 
but the Senate refused to ratify it. In 1887 the Nicaraguan 
government gave a 100-year concession to the Nicaraguan 
Canal Company; which the latter transferred to the Mari- 
time Canal Company in 1889; the canal was to be completed 
in five years. The route decided upon was from San Juan 
del Norte on the Caribbean to Brito on the Pacific, about one 
hundred and seventy miles. One hundred and seventeen 
miles of this was to be through the lake and the San Juan 
River; the actual digging would not be over twenty-seven 
miles. There were to be two canals, one from Ochoa on the 
river to the port of San Juan del Norte — about thirty-fivo 
miles including river basins ; and the other from Lake Nica- 
ragua, at the mouth of the river Lajas, to Brito. Each canal 
would have three locks in order to bring the water to a level 
with that of the lake — one hundred and ten feet. The deep- 
est excavation, one hundred and forty-one feet over a distance 
of three miles, would be across the divide on the eastern sec- 
tion. Subsidiary works would be a dam at Ochoa, improve- 
ment of the lake, channels and harbors, and the construction 
of a short railway line for transporting machinery. Upon 
this programme the Company got to work in 1889; but its 
advertisements for subscriptions in London, Paris and New 
York were entirely unfruitful; the project was blacklisted 
as a financial investment everywhere. Work on the canal 
ceased in 1891, and then the Company turned to the United 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 465 

States government for help — although it had originally de- 
clared that it would be absolutely independent of all outside 
assistance. Congress, appointed 'a commission to inquire 
into the merits of the affair ; their report was a very ambig- 
uous recommendation; they opined that the "enterprise is 
full of promise, unless hindered by obstacles or sinister influ- 
ences, such as would, if permitted to weigh, forbid the suc- 
cess of all ventures." This was taking back with one hand 
what was held out with the other; but there was good ground 
for caution. The estimates made by the company, compared 
with those made by our government engineers, differed so 
much at every point that the discrepancy became suspicious. 
Thus, the estimate of the Company for the completion of 'the 
Greytown harbor was two million one hundred and fifty-one 
thousand dollars; that of our government, four million four 
hundred and eighty. Our government estimated the Brito 
terminal at a cost of four million three hundred and ninety- 
sight thousand dollars; the Company, at one million nine 
hundred and twenty. The estimate of the Company for the 
completion of the San Juan River division was one milhou 
nine hundred and seventy-five dollars; that of our govern- 
ment, fourteen million eight hundred and sixty-six thousand 
— a discrepancy of not less than twelvj) million and odd dol- 
lars. The natural conclusion from this showing is, that the 
Company deliberately underestimated the cost of its under- 
taking; and in consequence both houses of Congress ad- 
journed without taking any action upon the bill. 

Moreover, a comm.unication was received from the min- 
ister of Nicaragua and the allied repubhcs, in January, 1897, 
pointing out that the Company had violated its contract in 
various material points, thereby voiding its charter, and add- 
ing that, since it was evident that the Company could not 
raise mbney to fulfil its contract unless the United States 
should furnish it, the governments concerned should coma 
to a direct understanding on the subject of the construction 
of the canal, on the basis of a former treaty made between 
them, and try to reach an arrangement with the Company 



466 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

SO that it might renounce a concession whose conditions it 
could not fulfil. And certainly there seems to be no reason 
why our government should not control and administer the 
funds for the canal, if it itself provides them. No private 
corporation is needed in the premises. It is a fortunate cir- 
cumstance on the other hand that the Nicaraguan and Costa 
Rican governments have always showed themselves well 
disposed to the enterprise ; for the destruction of this canal 
would be a matter of no difficulty. Not being built, like 
those of Suez and Corinth, on the sea-level, but complicated 
with an elaborate system of locks, dams and special struct- 
ures, its value could easily be destroyed by even a single 
person working for an hour with an axe and spade. Its 
preservation amid a hostile population would be impossible. 
Even under the most favorable conditions, it would always 
be at the mercy of an earthquake, and might be seriously 
endangered by the heavy rains, which on the east coast fall 
to the annual depth of fifteen feet, and render the lower part 
of the San Juan River entirely impracticable for the use of 
the canal, as its raging torrent during the rainy season would 
be beyond all control. 

The commission above quoted made the recommendation 
that another survey and estimate of the proposed work be 
made, in order that a final and authoritative conclusion 
might be reached as to whether the work-Avere, upon the 
whole, feasible. Since then, President McKinley has caused 
such a survey and estimate to be made ; and though some 
minor complications have arisen, it is probable that the canal 
may be dug and controlled by our government. There must 
always remain a slight element of risk in the work ; but its 
utility would be so vast, and the commercial returns so great, 
that possible obstacles should not be permitted to weigh too 
heavily against it. 

The Panama Canal project is quite as well known as the 
Nicaraguan one, and not long ago its chances of being real- 
ized seemed greater. Numerous surveys were made, from 
1828 onward, both by the United States and others; and in 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 467 

1877 the Colombian government, within whose jurisdiction 
the region of the canal would lie, granted to a Frenchman 
named Wyse a concession for its building. The chief backer 
of the scheme was Ferdinand de Lesseps, at whose invitatiou 
an internatioal scientific congress met at Paris, in May, 1879, 
De Lesseps had the prestige of the Suez Canal to bank on, 
and he inspired great confidence. The American delegates 
to the congress refrained, however, from joining in the final 
vote, which was taken after a short session, and without 
considering alternative schemes. It decided on the Panama 
route, and a company was at once formed. De Lesseps then 
visited the Isthmus in person, and asserted, as an engineer, 
that the work could easily be accomplished. The Wyse con- 
cession was purchased, an international technical committee 
decided that the cost would be one hundred and sixty-nine 
million dollars, shares were placed on sale and eagerly bought 
up, and the digging began. The chosen route was close to 
the Panama Railroad, crossing the winding Chagres River six 
times, and involving a long and deep cut through the Central 
Cordillera. The Chagres River is liable to deep floods dur- 
ing the rainy season, but it was designed to control these by 
dams. Numbers of negroes from Jamaica and elsewhere 
were employed in the work, which was carried on, with 
some interruptions, from 1881 to March of 1889; at which 
time the company went into liquidation. Up to that time 
it had spent more than two hundred and sixty million dol- 
lars, the major part of which had been contributed by the 
middle classes in France, together with the proceeds of lot- 
teries authorized by the French government. This enormous 
sum had sufficed for the digging of twelve miles only of the 
fifty-four which were to be excavated; and the part thus fin- 
ished did not include the more difficult portions. The cost 
of the Suez Canal was about one million dollars per mile, 
and the estimated cost of the Nicaragua not much more; but 
the Panama Canal was costing at the rate of more than 
twelve million dollars per mile. It seemed plain that there 
had been gross frauds connected with the business ; and in 



468 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

1892 De Lesseps and the engineer Eiffel were arrested on 
charges of dishonesty. Their trial showed that a large part 
of the funds had been used in subsidizing the French press 
and in bribing members of the legislature. There are still 
not wanting advocates of the Panama route; but it is un- 
likely that it will be preferred before that of Nicaragua by 
responsible persons. The Nicaraguan is more convenient 
for the United States, and that fact alone would be enough 
to determine the question. It is practically certain that, 
wherever the canal is built, and by whomsoever the work 
is done, the control of it must be vested solely in the United 
States. Our ships, both in peace and in war, must have the 
right of way through it, and the power to deny that right, 
upon occasion, to the ships of other nations. 

In South America, within recent times, the most con- 
spicuous event has been the disgraceful civil war in Chih, 
between President Balmaceda's party and that of the Con- 
gress. The war took place in 1891, but the causes leading 
up to it had, of course, been long brewing. 

Elections had long been scenes of riot and bloodshed. In 
1882 two men were killed and seven wounded; seventeen 
were killed and one hundred and sixty-five wounded in 1885; 
and in 1886 forty-six were killed and one hundred and sixty 
wounded. The voting population was only one-fiftieth of 
the number of males in the country, which makes this show- 
ing so much the more remarkable. Balmaceda was the man 
chosen in the 1886 election, he having had the support of the 
retiring Santa Maria government. With his advent to power 
came rumor of various reforms such as we are constantly 
hearing promised in our own political campaigns. Subsidies 
were voted for the completion of railways; telephones were 
put up, and educational affairs were promoted. In spite 
of all expenditures, the government was able to show a 
good balance sheet. Import duties were lowered in 1889 
and 1890, a new line of steamers was subsidized. But all 
this had not the effect of quieting opposition ; it was said by 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 469 

conservatives that the money spent in internal improvements 
should have been used to pay the public debts ; Balmaceda 
was denounced as a tyrant; and when it was learned that 
he had selected San Fuentes as his successor (a man very 
unpopular with many) the outcry became violent, and even 
some of the liberals joined in it. Serious trouble was on 
the way. 

The constitution of 1833, amended in 1874, was still the 
law of the land, but had been often strained in one place, 
and suffered to become inoperative in another. By its pro- 
visions the president has far more personal power than with 
us; if he chooses, he can be practically autocratic. Should 
a president arise who disagreed with congress, their only 
defence against him would be their power to withhold money 
supplies. In other ways he was their master and that of the 
country. Balmaceda gradually became hostile to the con- 
gress, and by January of 1891 he was supported only by 
those liberals who were office-holders or otherwise personally 
concerned in offices; the rest of the party, and of course the 
conservatives, were against him. He was as obstinate as a 
Spanish mule, and quite as intelligent. He was as wedded 
to "his policy" as ever was our own Andrew Johnson. Min- 
istry after ministry resigned; special sessions were called; 
supplies were refused ; the ugly and childish spectacle of one 
branch of the government trying in all ways to paralyze the 
action of the other was presented in all its forms. 

Early in January, 1S91, the congress had ceased to have 
any legal existence, and it had deposed Balmaceda, who was 
exercising dictatorial functions. Jorge Montt of the navy 
was empowered by the non-existent congress to assume pro- 
visional command; and upon this absurd state of things, civil 
war broke out. The navy declared for congress; the army 
followed the president. This was a disappointment to the 
navy, which had expected to have the army with them; 
the army had followed Balmaceda, however, not from any 
patriotic motives — such would have been out of place in Chili 
—but from jealousy of the navy, and from regard to their 



4:70 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

own pockets, Balmaceda having increased their pay. There 
were seven ships in the navy, including two ironclads; they 
gathered at Quintero. Pisagua was the first point of attack, 
important on account of its nitrate trade ; it was easily cap- 
tured; but was recaptured by a party of government (Bal- 
macedist) troops, who had just defeated an undrilled con- 
gressionist force. But the fleet, after a heavy bombardment, 
took the place once more. A detachment of government 
troops was about the same time defeated by revolutionists 
at San Francisco; the remnant retreated upon Ipique, which 
was the real objective of the navy party. But the Ipique 
garrison had left the place in order to support the defeated 
detachment ; and during its absence, Ipique was occupied by 
the revolutionists. Another government force under Colonel 
Soto then carried Ipique by assault ; but the fleet was at hand 
to bombard him out of it again. There were five thousand 
government troops scattered about the neighborhood, agaiast 
two thousand of the enemy; but there was no co-operation. 
Boj^s, playing at soldiers, could have done better. 

Ipique surrendered with two million rounds of ammuni- 
tion. It was occupied with all haste by three thousand con- 
gressionist troops; for it was the key of the situation. But 
the attack by the government army was delayed by bad 
management; finally a battle was fought outside; Robles, 
the government leader, was mortally wounded, and his troops 
were cut to pieces. This defeat demoralized the supporters of 
Balmaceda; everybody ran away fro"m him. He had started 
with the odds in his favor; they were now against him. 
Many of the army officers joined the congress party. Kor- 
ner, a Prussian tactician, sold his services to congress, and 
there was no one to match him on the president's side. 
Four provinces, including the rich Tarapaca nitrate desert, 
were in the congressionists' hands. Balmaceda had the big 
towns, but the revolutionists had the source of wealth; and 
they busied themselves in assembling, furnishing and drill- 
ing an excellent army. Balmaceda indeed had contrived to 
raise more men, but their morale was poor; he had been able 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 471 

to obtain but three ships. He perceived that he could gain 
nothing by waiting, and might lose everything, for the dis- 
orders in the country were atrocious. It was, says a writer 
in "Blackwood's Magazine," "overrun with spies; private 
correspondence was not sacred, freedom of speech was for- 
bidden, the press was almost suppressed, and no one sus- 
pected of being unfavorable to the government was in 
safety. Imprisonment, floggings, tortures, and inspection 
of houses at all hours of the day or night were of frequent 
occurrence." Balmaceda had been technically in the right 
in his original quarrel with congress, which arose over a 
question of appointments ; but his assumption of dictatorial 
powers was inexcusable. • He must act, or disappear. 

Two of his three ships were torpedo boats; and they 
succeeded in torpedoing the enemy's flagship "Blanco En- 
calada," which sank with two hundred and forty-five men 
in three minutes. Then they attacked a transport, which 
escaped with heavy loss. This exploit caused government 
stock to rise a little, and the rest of the enemy's fleet kept 
out of the way. One of the torpedo boats and the other 
government ship, the "Imperial," then made a cruise 
along the coast, but did little damage. The revolutionists 
bribed three oi the crew of a government torpedo launch, 
the "Aldea," to take the boat out to sea and ieliver 
her to one of their warships; they did their part of the 
work, but the warship was late, the launch was discovered 
by the torpedo boat, and the three bribe-takers were shot. 
Such was the character of the men engaged in this war. 

The term of the congress expired and the new one favored 
Balmaceda, who now chose as his successor Claudio Vicuna. 
But this had no effect upon the war ; only that it was held 
desirable by the revolutionists to win a decisive battle before 
Vicuna came into power. They brought down their army 
from the north and landed it at Qaintero without opposition; 
though the government troops numbered nearly four times 
as many as theirs. But there were many men in the south 
who were only awaiting the arrival of the northern army to 



472 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

act with it; and Balmaceda's troops were scattered all over 
the country, in the vain endeavor to protect the whole of 
it at once. The two armies which finally met at Concon 
each numbered about nine thousand men. After a little 
manoeuvring, the government troops were feinted into a 
position where they were exposed to a cross fire, and also to 
the guns of two ironclads which crept up the river. After 
several hours' exposure to this murderous fire, Balmaceda's 
men fled, leaving three thousand dead and wounded behind 
them. The total loss of the other side was under one thou- 
sand. But these are huge figures, when we consider that 
but eighteen thousand men in all were engaged. And all — • 
for what? 

Balmaceda still had twenty thousand men in reserve; 
had he had them on the field of battle the issue would have 
been different. Canto, the revolutionary general, advanced 
on Valparaiso. The government generals Barbosa and Al- 
zerreca, after a private quarrel as to whether to fight at 
once or to await reinforcements, decided to meet Canto's 
twelve thousand confident men with their nine thousand 
disheartened ones. Indeed, just before the battle, four hun- 
dred of them deserted to the enemy. Barbosa, however, had 
a strong position on a ridge, with artillery. ' Canto advanced 
steadily, with Korner to advise him. The government right 
wing was so hard pressed that the artillery in the centre was 
directed thither to help it ; when Korner by a detour turned 
the government's left; the cavalry charged, and the day was 
won. Twenty-five hundred men were killed and wounded 
on the loser's side, and fourteen hundred on that of the win- 
ner. Barbosa and Alzerreca both fell. Many Balmacedist 
refugees sought shelter on board the United States ship 
"Baltimore" ; our country had sympathized with Balmaceda 
in the war. There was a great slaughter in the city, and five 
hundred corpses were picked up in the streets next morning f 
the houses had been sacked, and drunken men and women 
had danced in the midst of the massacre. At Santiago the 
same scenes occurred. Balinaceda shot himself on the 18th 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 473 

of September. A junta del gobierno ruled the country till 
November, when Captain Montt was chosen president. 
Vicuna escaped to the United States. The feeling against 
our country among the successful revolutionists was bitter; 
we had given moral support to the government, had chased 
the "Itata" ironclad for violating neutrality laws, and had 
allowed the "Baltimore" to be used as a refuge by the de- 
feated. A number of "Baltimore" men were attacked in 
the streets of Valparaiso and stabbed. President Harrison 
demanded an apology, which was made by Chili, and sev- 
enty-five thousand dollars was paid to the families of the 
murdered sailors. A treaty between the two countries was 
signed the next year. 

We have treated this affair at some length, not because 
it has anj'- dignity or importance in itself, but because it 
affords a good illustration of the character of the Spanish 
Americans of South America. The Chilians are considered 
to compare favorably with the other South American 
people ; they have an appearance of energy and progressive- 
ness. But they are untrustworthy, and cannot be considered 
civilized. At any moment, by a wanton outbreak of sav- 
agery, they are liable to undo the work of years. Were it 
not for the strong influence of German, English and Ameri- 
can residents, they would probably have destroyed them- 
selves long since. 

Peru has been gradually recovering from the effects 
of her war with Chili; and the Argentine Repubhc is again 
on the road to prosperity, after the serious overthrow of her 
finances some years ago. The smaller northern states have 
done nothing to attract attention of late, beyond their usual 
internal dissensions; but Venezuela came near bringing on 
trouble between England and the United States, owing to 
the arbitrary and unjust conduct of England over a boun- 
dary question. President Cleveland interfered with extraor- 
dinary bluntness, and it seemed for some months as if war 
were inevitable ; but England kept her temper, as she is apt 
to do when there is good reason for it, and the trouble blew 



474 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

over. — Concerning Brazil, which is a Portuguese country by 
conquest and occupation, though long since independent, this 
history can have nothing to say; but it may be remarked 
that there is an opening for foreign capital in that vast 
country which may, in the course of years, prove more 
attractive than most other South American investments. 

"We have now to consider the present condition of Porto 
Rico and Cuba. A general description of Porto Rico has 
already been given ; but as it is the only one of the West 
Indian islands which has come into the possession of this 
country, it merits some further attention. Although Ad- 
miral Sampson had dropped a few shells into San Juan, 
while cruising in search of C"ervera*s fleet, no attempt to 
occupy the island had been made up to the date of the sur- 
render of Santiago de Cuba. Major-General Miles then set 
out for the place with transports containing about thirty-fivo 
hundred men ; these had been sent out originally to serve in 
Cuba; but the conquest of that island having been accom- 
plished without need of them, they were headed for the 
smaller dependency. The expedition started on the 21st 
of July J and was understood to be bound for San Juan; bui; 
Miles altered the destination of the fleet, in order to surprise 
the Spanish defenders, and landed his troops on the south 
coast, at Guanica, on the 35th, meeting with no resistance. 
From Guanica as a base he advanced on Ponce, which sur- 
rendered with a show of enthusiasm. Another expedition 
had meanwhile left from points on our coast, and another 
landing was effected on the east coast, bringing the total 
of our forces in the island up to seventeen thousand men. 
Miles's plan was now to bring these forces together on con- 
verging lines upon San Juan, passing through some chief 
towns on the way. He aimed first at Aibonito, while Gen- 
eral Brooke marched toward Cayey, and General Wilson 
went north toward Arecibo. The enemy had fallen back, 
and was not overtaken till shortly before the middle of Au- 
gust, when Spanish troops were discovered in a fortified 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 475 

position on a pass over the hills. The attack was just about 
being delivered, when a messenger arrived bringing the 
news that a protocol had been signed outlining terms of 
peace between Spain and the United States, and that 
hostilities were therefore at an end. 

Six commissioners, three on a side, met at San Juan on 
the 6 th of September to settle the details of the cession and 
evacuation by the Spanish of the island. Schley, Brooke 
and Gordon represented the United States, and the confer- 
ences were easy and amicable; the American flag was 
hoisted on the 18th of October. Eight thousand American 
troops were assigned to duty on the island under Brooke, 
who was presently succeeded by General Guy V. Henry, 
The task before us is to educate the inhabitants to a moral 
and intellectual level where they may be enabled to- 
govern themselves according to the laws of the United 
States Constitution. For the present the island is on the 
footing of a territory, and the government is of the military 
sort; but it is not contemplated to continue this situation 
permanently. The gTeat proportion of the islanders are of 
white blood; but neither during their occupation of Porto 
Rico, nor while they were still denizens of the Spanish 
peninsula, did they have any experience of the working of 
democratic principles. The relation between rulers and 
people was, for them, always that between master and ser- 
vant ; and if we trace the Latin race back to the earliest 
times, we shall always find this principle in force. It is 
deeply seated in their blood ; and we have seen by instances 
adduced in this volume that when the attempt has been made 
by revolted colonies of Latin blood to rule themselves, the re- 
suit has been, at best, the letter of democracy without the 
spirit : the form without the substance. It has seemed to be 
impossible for them to be quiet except when ruled by the 
strong hand, and deprived of every responsibility of govern- 
ment; just in such measure as they have been permitted to 
manage things for themselves, have these people misman- 
aged them. Education has had little or no effect in abating 
— 21 



476 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

this characteristic ; there are many Latins who in intellect- 
ual calibre and cultivation are the equals of the most accom- 
plished Anglo-Saxons; but such men have been just as far 
from the idea of true democracy as have the ignorant un- 
derlings. They have been content either to obey the com- 
mands of an appointed sovereign, or to exercise sovereign 
powers over others ; but to rule themselves in equality and 
peace has never been possible to them. 

Just the opposite has always been the case with the 
Anglo-Saxon. From the moment when he first appears 
upon the stage of history, we find him self-respecting and 
personally independent. Whenever his liberties have been 
infringed, he has been in a state of either actual or potential 
rebellion. His freedom is not impaired by the name and 
outward form which he may choose to bestow upon his gov- 
ernment ; whether it be a limited constitutional monarchy as 
in England, or a monarchy of a stricter and more preten- 
tions aspect as in Germany, or an explicit republic as in the 
United States, the practical result is the same; each citizen 
is his own owner and sov^ereign. He could not endure, and 
he has never been able to endure, the feeling that any other 
man was his master. On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon 
race, especially the British branch of it, has shown remark- 
able ability to rule other races with a vigorous but, upon 
the whole, just and temperate hand. The British people 
are the result of a natural growth, continued through many 
centuries; the people of the United States are the result of 
an extreme theory carried into practical working; and 
though this theory has accompanied an enormous progress 
and prosperity, many critics still doubt whether it can ulti- 
mately succeeds The United States has accepted immi- 
grants from all parts of the world, and has assimilated them 
with her population. Notwithstanding this vast influx of 
heterogeneous material, the Anglo-Saxon predominance in 
the country has not been overcome ; though it may be sur- 
mised that so far as the principle of popular government here 
has failed to realize the benefits expected from it, the cause 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 47? 

may be sought in the large Latin mixture in the population. 
Those Latins who are our citizens require several genera- 
tions before they can be regarded as thoroughly inoculated 
with Anglo-Saxon conceptions; and during these generations 
their blood has been modified by Anglo-Saxon infiltrations, 
so that they can no longer be called pure Latins ; besides 
which they have had the benefit of dwelling in the midst of 
the great democracy. But our English, Irish and German 
immigrants have needed no such apprenticeship ; they have 
embraced and comprehended the democratic idea at once. 

If Porto Rico prove to be valuable as a commercial pos- 
session and a centre of agriculture and other industries, it la 
certain to attract many settlers from this country; and thsy 
will inevitably give the tone to its population, and subdue 
and mold it to themselves by natural process. The Spanish. 
Creoles will accommodate themselves to the novel conditions; 
and when the present generation has passed ajvay, and their 
children and children's children have succeeded them, the 
lesson of self-government will have been tolerably well 
learned. But should American settlement in the island be 
for any reason discouraged, it may well be doubted whether 
the native Porto Ricans will ever become fitted to take their 
place as full-fiedged American citizens. They will have to 
be governed much after the fashion that England governs 
India. We shall find it futile to apply to them the same 
principles which are natural to ourselves. They will do as 
they are told, but they will not learn to tell themselves what 
to do. We can give them the material benefits of political 
and religious liberty, but we cannot implant in their souls 
the instinct which would prompt them to exercise in an or- 
derly and consistent manner the functions of which liberty 
is the fruit. Should we leave them to their own devices, 
they would make themselves the prey of alternate despotism 
and anarchy, as we have seen their blood-brethren do in 
Central and South America. The only conclusion we can 
form on these premises seems to be, that the political situa- 
tion in the Spanish Americas cannot be permanent. There 



478 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

will never be internal peace and settled order in those coun- 
tries so long as they are left to their own guidance. But in- 
asmuch as they include some of the richest and most desir- 
able regions on the globe, it is not to be expected that they 
will always be left to themselves. The situation already 
mentioned in Chili, where foreigners conduct and keep 
going the industrial and commercial activities, will obtain 
more and more with each generation, until at length the 
term Spanish America will become a mere historical remi- 
niscence, instead of a contemporary fact. The Spanish Cre- 
oles will be absorbed and will disappear, and the Anglo- 
Saxon will take their place. 

These considerations should be borne in mind when we 
study the prospects of the island of Cuba, the richest and 
most attractive of the Antilles, which is now just about em- 
barking on its experiment of independence, not without many 
misgivings, even among the Cubans themselves. 

After the peace of 1878, which was no peace, but an inter- 
lude brought about by false promises of reform, Cuba for a 
time sank out of public view. Taxes were imposed in wan- 
ton disregard of all reasonable or indeed rational economic 
principles; life for the inhabitants was brought to such a 
pitch of peril, poverty and general discomfort that anything 
was preferable to its continuance. The revolutionary juntas 
had accordingly been diligently employed in preparing for a 
new revolution, which should be final and decisive. The 
struggle was never to be given up until either Spain aban- 
doned the island, or all its inhabitants were dead. The head 
of the plotters was one Jose Marti, born in Cuba but edu- 
cated in Spain and further educated by a long sojourn in this 
country. He was a m.an of intelligence and determination, 
and he had the organizing and leading faculties which were 
needed for his function. 

Confident that the hostility to Spanish rule was common 
to all parts of the island, he arranged for a general and 
simultaneous uprising in every province, to take place on the 
24:th of February, 1895; and it was his purpose to leave for 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 479" 

Cuba with three vessels and as large a force of armed men 
as could be obtained; the point of embarkation being Fer- 
nandina, Florida. The United States, however, was well 
sown with Spanish spies, and news of this intended expedi- 
tion was conveyed not only to Spain, but to our own govern- 
ment ; which, bound by international law, was under obliga- 
tions to prevent the ships from sailing from any United 
States port. They were prevented accordingly; and Marti 
was compelled to adopt Santo Domingo as the base for his 
operations. He there had a conference with General Max- 
imo Gomez and other patriots, who had been distinguished 
in the former rebellion. It was decided to keep to the orig- 
inal date for the uprising; but when the time came, the 
response was only partial ; Santiago and Matanzas took up 
arms; but it was evident that the inhabitants of the other 
provinces were waiting to see whether the movement was 
likely to be successful before taking the step by which alone 
success could become possible. By way of stimulating the 
sluggish and timid, Marti and Gomez issued a proclamation 
late in March, and the two Maceos, Antonio and Jose, to- 
gether with Dr. Agramonte and a few more, succeeded 
in landing in the neighborhood of Baracoa on March 31st. 
Marti and Gomez followed two weeks later with eighty men, 
getting ashore at Cape Maisi. The time was not unfavor- 
able ; for the Spaniards had less than twenty thousand sol- 
diers in the island; and the martial law which had been 
declared in the revolting provinces had not had the effect 
of quelling the trouble. Reinforcements to the number of 
seven thousand men were brought over from Porto Rico, and 
Martinez Campos returned from Spain with further regi- 
ments, arriving a few days after the landing of Gomez and 
Marti. ;N"evertheless, a quick and general response to the 
summons of the revolutionary leaders might have resulted 
in wiping the Spaniards off the island, and thus gaining 
at least a great initial advantage. But the Cubans, though 
tenacious and troublesome fighters in their own way, had it 
not in them to make any decisive and unanimous movement; 



480 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

there were plenty of people, mostly negroes, wlio were ready 
to take up arms ; but the raising of a regularly drilled and 
appointed army or system of armies, who should conduct 
operations in the field according to rules of scientific warfare 
— this was not to be accomplished. On the other hand, 
Marti was fully alive to the advantage which Would accrue 
from recognition of the Cuban Republic by the United States; 
and he accordingly made it his first care to call a meeting of 
the leaders and draw up a form of government, and select 
representatives to form a constituent assembly. He also 
designed to visit Washington in the hope of persuading the 
United States government to take the step of recognition; 
but he was killed on the way to the coast by a Spanish party. 
Nevertheless, on the 15th of Septembpr Cuban independence 
was declared at Jimaguayu, and a provisional constitution 
was adopted. Betancourt and Masso were chosen president 
and vice-president. Gomez was appointed commander-in- 
chief, Maceo lieutenant-general. Estrada Palma was to be 
foreign agent. A capital was established in the Cubitas 
mountains, and a form of administration was put in practice. 
The first encounters between the Spaniards and the pa- 
triots took place in the east, where the Spanish general Santo- 
cildes was slain in a skirmish near Bayamo ; and the Cuban 
general Lacret landed a force from Jamaica, and another 
arrived from Key West. In order to secure the capital, 
Campos rebuilt the old trocha across the island, and erected 
forts and block-houses ; his impression being that the insur- 
rection was confined to the east, and that, by maintaining 
a strong force along this fortified line, the movement could 
be easily checked and put down. But the tactics of the 
Cubans rendered these measures of little value. They did 
not mass themselves together, but spread themselves among 
the hills and forests in small bodies, moving rapidly, always 
appearing where they were least looked for, cutting off small 
Spanish detachments, slipping unobserved at night past the 
fortified lines, destroying the plantations which were furnish- 
ing supplies to Havana, and constantly increasing their 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 481 

numbers, either by accepting those who came voluntarih^, 
or forcing the reluctant i:o join. The Spanish, by Novem- 
ber, had been reinforced with fort}^ thoasand more troops 
from Spain; but these did not much improve the situation, 
though they added greatly to the cost of the war, and the 
difficulty of the commissariat. Large armies cannot be made 
effective in a bushwhacking contest. The Cubans gained 
the west end of the island, and even advanced within twelve 
miles of Havana: their numbers could not be determined, 
but it is said that they had as many as sixteen thousand men 
in the field. They would not stop long enough to be counted, 
or even to be killed. Campos had hoped to make progress 
by adopting measures of conciliation; but he found it impos- 
sible to effect any conferences, or to spread abroad his good 
intentions. The Cubans had not been through their former 
revolution for nothing; and would not readily place faith in 
any promises that Spain could make. 

This was annoying to Spanish pride, and the discontent 
concentrated itself against Campos; for Spain always holds 
its officers guilty for failures, never its policy or the condi- 
tion under which the officers were compelled to act. Campos 
resigned in January, 1896, and in February arriv^ed General 
Weyler, who was also a veteran of the former war, and was 
quite confident that he had a sure recipe for the putting down 
of any rebellion. 

Meanwhile a new trocha had been placed across the island 
west of Havana; but Maceo had succeeded in evading it, and 
the provinces of Matanzas and Havana still continued to suf- 
fer. The Spaniards held most of the large towns in Cuba, 
and these tactics of the rebels were calculated to deprive the 
garrisons of the means of subsistence, except such as might 
be brought in from other sources outside of Cuba. But Wey- 
ler reflected that the Cuban army, after all, contained but 
a small fraction of the inhabitants of the country; there were 
hundreds of thousands of non-combatants, or pacificos as they 
were called, who were just as much Cubans as the fighting 
men were ; consequently, so long as the rebellion lasted, they 



483 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

were just as mucla enemies of Spain. "Were they all de- 
stroyed, the fighting men could not long maintain the con- 
flict ; since the pacificos were the cultivators of the ground, 
and upon their labors the Cuban army must be absolutely 
dependent. Therefore he determined that all pacificos must 
die. He did not design to slaughter them all, for that might 
arouse the protest of civilized nations, without considering 
the waste of ammunition. The more prudent and economical 
plan was to let them perish by the operation of natural causes, 
which in this case meant to let them starve to death. Two- 
thirds of the pacificos being women and children, it was evi- 
dent that by destroying them he would not only add that 
number of victims to the pi-esent war, but he would also 
obviate the possibility of the existence of Cubans for all time 
to come. .A race cannot propagate itseK without women; 
let all the women be killed, and the men would in course of 
tune die out, even without the aid of Spanish bullets. The 
island, by dint of this policy, would become ere long a tabula 
rasa, to be hereafter colonized by a new supply of settlers, 
who would be free from rebellious notions. The theory was 
irreproachable; only, how was the starvation process to be 
carried out? 

For this, also, Weyler was prepared. He ordered the 
military authorities of the various towns to command all 
the country inhabitants of their neighborhood to leave their 
plantations and collect in the town environs, where a zone 
of cultivation was to be marked cut, and picketed, within 
which they were to remain and support themselves; anyone 
attempting to go outside the picket-line was to be shot, and 
none of the supplies issued to the troops was to be given 
these reconcentrados, as they were termed. Moreover, they 
were to be deprived of farming tools, and of grain to sow. 
Under this system, the zones of cultivation soon became 
areas of starvation, filled with skeleton mothers holding 
skeleton babies to their lifeless breasts. From time to time, 
the bones of the dead (or of the dying very often) were swept 
into trenches and covered with soil; and no objection was 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 483 

offered if the pickets or other soldiers should amuse them- 
selves with trying the accuracy of their aim upou the help- 
less victims, or should slice them in pieces to prove the keen- 
ness of their machetes. In one way or another, therefore, 
Weyler's policy speedily proved its effectiveness; and the 
murders which lie at his door may be reckoned by the hun- 
dred thousand. The exact number can never be known, 
inasmuch as there was no trustworthy census by which 
to estimate it; but it is thought that it cannot be less than 
half a million, most of whom were children and women. 
The cost to the government was of course absolutely noth- 
ing. Weyier was naturally proud of the success of his de- 
vice, and the authorities at Madrid were deeply gratified. 
This was the true way to put down a rebelhon, and at the 
same time to make sure provision against any rebellions in 
the future. It was thoroughly characteristic of the Spanish 
genius, and proved that in the four centuries of their Amer- 
ican dominion their hand had lost none of its cunning. 

Fighting in the field was not vigorously prosecuted during 
Weyier 's regime, for reasons satisfactory to him. The war 
was to him a source of income; every year of its contin- 
uance meant to him a new fortune. All Spanish colonial 
administrators have been thieves; but none of them had 
ever amassed money at Weyler's rate. He made no 
scruple of starving his own soldiers by pocketing the 
sams sent him to provide for them; for since he did not 
care to fight, what was the use of soldiers? If they were 
fed and taken out to battle, they would be killed, and the 
value of the food lost. Better let them forage for them- 
selves; and only when both the Spanish army and the 
Cuban population were extinct would Weyier return, to 
receive the well-earned thanks of his country. 

This project may seem to the reader imaginative and 
fantastic; but it is sober historical fact; and the Spanish 
captain-general might still be collecting revenues in the 
Ever-Faithful Isle, had it not been for the fastidiousness of 
this country. Indeed, our people had long been restive un- 



484 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

der the spectacle, although few of them really believed that 
things could be as bad as they were said to be. But it was 
at least evident that the w^ar was not being pushed properly; 
the island was given up to desolation, and commercial inter- 
ests were suffering. The rebels were unable to drive thQ 
Spanish from their country, and the Spanish were either 
unable or unwilling to bring the rebellion to a close. Cuba 
was close to our doors, and the stench of the corpses scat- 
tered under the tropic sun was offensive to our civilized nos- 
trils. Our government, like all governments, was reluctant 
to interfere; it hoped for the best, and waited over-long for 
it; it discredited the worst rumors of cruelty and barbarism, 
and feared to yield too readily to popular passion. But the 
consuls of the United States in the island, from General Lee 
at Havana down, persisted in sending in reports of what 
horrors came under their personal observation; and occasion- 
ally some parts of these reports would find their way into 
the newspapers. Newspaper reporters were sent over, and 
sent back concise and emphatic reports, telUng the exact 
truth — though, precisely because they were so true, they 
were largely disbelieved. And yet, no effective or convinc- 
ing denials were promulgated. Weyler, indeed, as each 
fresh ten thousand skeletons of reconcentrados were shov- 
elled into their trench, announced that this or that district 
had been pacified, and that the war was practically over. 
But uniformly, after one of these proclamations from head- 
quarters, would follow news of the destruction of a town by 
the rebels, or the defeating of a Spanish force; if the rebel- 
lion were at an end, at all events men were still getting shot 
throughout the country. The pressure of public opinion upon 
the authorities " at Washington at last became so strong that 
action was indispensable. It was intimated to Spain that 
it might be well if the war were brought to a close within 
some reasonable time. It had become inconvenient to the 
United States, and were it to continue indefinitely, might 
become insufferable. At this juncture an event occurred 
in Madrid which had the effect of introducing a change. 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 485 

This was the assassination of Canovas, the Spanish prime 
minister, who had all along supported and justified Weyler 
m his policy. The successor chosen was Sagasta, who, if 
for no better reason than to justify his selection, proceeded 
to put another policy into execution. He recalled Weyler, 
and sent out General Ramon Blanco in his place, with in- 
structions to adopt mild and pacificatory measures. Let the 
erring colonists be won by love, and let all needed reforms 
in the administration of the island be promoted. Of course 
these instructions were ne^er intended to, be obeyed; they 
were issued simply in order to quiet American prejudices; 
the secret understanding was, that, under cover of gentle- 
ness, the same methods were to be continued. The re.con- 
centrados still went on starving, and the murder of inoffen- 
sive pacificos who inadvertently failed to observe impossible 
rules was kept up as briskly as before. But a scheme of 
autonomy was put forward, though it had not yet received 
the approval of the Spanish Cortes; providing for a Cuban 
parliament with powers so restricted as to be useless. The 
revolutionists utterly repudiated this scheme, and those in- 
habitants of the island who did not perceive its delusive 
quality denounced it as impracticable. Americans also were 
quick to see through its insincerity. Meantime the consti- 
tution originally adopted by the Cuban RepubHc having 
reached the end of its appointed two-years' term, another 
was adopted, and Masso and Capote were chosen president 
and vice-president. Gomez and Garcia continued to com- 
mand the army. In December, 1897, McKinley spoke of 
Cuba in his message to Congress, remarking that it was still 
inexpedient to "recognize" the Republic; but stating that 
we might be forced to put an end to the war in the interests 
of humanity and civilization. This message caused anger in 
Havana, and hostility was evinced toward Americans. Act- 
ual danger being apprehended, the battleship "Maine" was 
sent to Havana harbor, ostensibly on a mere visit of friend- 
ship, but in effect to protect American lives and interests. 
She arrived on the 25th of January, and was assigned by 



486 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

the harbor-master, acting under Blanco's instructions, to 
an anchorage which was afterward discovered to be over 
a sunken mine, which was connected with the shore by a 
wire, and could be exploded at any moment by an electric 
discharge. The "Maine's" presence caused an immediate 
improvement in the manners of the Spaniards in Havana 
toward the resident Americans; but underneath the show 
of courtesy there was a feeling of murderous enmity. Sub- 
sequent evidence goes to show that it was by Weyler's order 
that the mines in the harbor had been placed ; and since the 
Cubans had no navy, it could only have been with the view 
of possible complications with the United States that this 
step had been taken. On the 15th of February, 1898, about 
nine o'clock in the evening, at the moment when the tide 
caused the battleship to swing at her moorings so that her 
bow was brought just above the mine, it was exploded from 
the concealed switch-board on shore ; and the ship, with over 
two hundred and sixty of her crew, was blown up and totally 
destroyed. Captain Sigsbee and most of his officers were on 
board at the time, but being in their quarters at the stern of 
the ship, they were not destroyed ; discipline was maintained, 
and the survivors were safely taken off. An inquiry into the 
cause of the explosion was then instituted, and sat for a long 
time at Key West, making visits also to the scene of the 
wreck in Havana harbor; their conclusion was, as had from 
the first been anticipated, that the ship was blown up from 
below, with signs that the occasion of the disaster had been 
a mine. The Spaniards then made a perfunctory examina- 
tion, and immediately issued the report that the "Maine" 
had been destroyed by careless management on board on the 
part of the officers or crew, which had resulted in setting 
fire to the magazine. This explanation was not accepted by 
our government; and as no improvement had taken place in 
the war situation, it was finally decided to intervene by 
force. On April 5th Consul-General Lee retired from his 
post in Havana, warning all Americans to do the same; on 
the 11th of the same month McKinley sent to Congre^ a 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 487 

special message, asking for authority to intervene; and on 
the 19th a joint resolution was adopted declaring the inde- 
pendence of Cuba, directing Spain to witlidraw forthwith 
from the island, and bidding the president to employ the 
land and naval forces of the United States to carry these 
resolutions into effect. At the same time the Spanish min- 
ister left Washington, and General Woodford, who up to this 
moment had been a determined advocate of peace, received 
his conge at Madrid. The war was on. 

We had taken advantage of what small opportunity we 
had to add some vessels to our navy by purchase from other 
countries before war was declared ; and our position at se& 
was more favorable at the moment than on land. It wa« 
evident however that the war would be largely a naval con- 
test. The two nations were thought to be nearly on an 
equality in this respect, though the *'man behind the gun" 
was believed to be superior on the American ships— as the 
sequel abundantly proved to be the case. Spain had many 
more soldiers than we; our regular army was but about 
twenty-six thousand men; but there were the various State 
Guards, and any required number of citizens were ready and 
anxious -to volunteer, the war being an exceedingly popular 
one in this country. One hundred and twenty-five thousand 
troops were called for by the president — a number far in ex- 
cess of what was required; indeed, the regular army alone 
would, as it turned out, have been amply sufficient to defeat 
the Spaniards in Cuba and Porto Rico. We greatly over- 
estimated our enemy's strength and fighting qualities. Our 
first step was to blockade the Cuban ports, and minor actions 
took place in the harbors of some of the coast towns, in which 
the casualties on either side were small. It was afterward 
said that had Havana been immediately bombarded, it would 
have fallen, the defences being then inadequate; but Bianco 
diligently applied himself to erecting defences both on the 
sea and the land sides of the city, and presently had made 
it as nearly impregnable as possible. A Spanish squadron, 
commanded by Admiral Cervera, had meanwhile sailed from 



488 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

Spain, and some anxiety was aroused along our coast by the 
uncertainty as to what might be the destination of these 
ships ; our coast defences were practically non-existent, and 
any one of our great cities on the Atlantic seaboard might 
have been successfully attacked, Cervera, however, was 
bound for Cuba, his intention being to enter the harbor 
either of Cienf uegos or of Santiago ; he considered his fleet 
incompetent to cope on equal terms with ours, and had no 
wish to risk an engagement. The aim of our fleet, which 
was divided into two squadrons, under the command of 
Schley and of Sampson respectively, was to intercept Cer- 
vera and fight him ; but though a watch was kept up, the 
Spaniard contrived to elude us, and slipped safely into the 
long and narrow harbor of Santiago, which was eminently 
defensible, the entrance to the channel being but a few 
hundred yards wide, with forts and batteries at points of 
vantage. It was some time before it was certain that the 
Spanish fleet was in this cul-de-sac ; as soon as the fact was 
ascertained, most of the American fleet blockaded the en- 
trance, resolved that it should not get out without a battle. 
The Morro castle at the mouth of the harbor was sub- 
jected to several bombardments, but it proved impossible 
entirely to silence the batteries; and as the channel was 
known to be mined, it was deemed inexpedient to attempt 
sailing in to attack the Spanish fleet at its anchorage. The 
first ship to enter would be blown up, and its hulk would 
prevent any of the others from going in. Need was of a 
land force to attack the town from within. 

While this land force was getting ready — a process which 
proved tediously long, owing to incompetence of various offi- 
cers and officials concerned — a heroic exploit was performed 
by Lieutenant Hobson, who with a few volunteers as brave 
as himself took a steamer, the "Merrimac," directly into the 
mouth of the Santiago channel, where it was narrowest, in 
the teeth of the fire of all the Spanish batteries, and there 
blew her up and sank her ; the object being, of course, since 
we could not enter the harbor, to prevent Cervera from get- 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 489 

ting out, and thus set free our fleet to perform other func- 
tions than the wearisome one of blockade duty. The feat 
was done, and the heroic men who did it were not killed by 
the explosion, or by the Spanish fire; but the ship did not 
occupy a position exactly across the channel, so that it might 
be possible for the Spanish fleet to pass her in daylight. 
Hobson and his men clung to the wreck of the steamer dur- 
ing the night, and were captured next morning by Cervera 
himself, who came out in a steam launch to view the scene. 
They were imprisoned in Morro, in such a position that the 
fire of the American fleet directed against that fortification 
might make them its first victims ; but after a few days Cer- 
vera had them removed to the town of Santiago, where .they 
remained until exchanged for Spanish prisoners, after the 
investment of the town by the American army. 

The sinking of the "Merrimac" had taken place on June 
3d. On the 10th of that month six hundred marines were 
landed at Caimanera, in the Bay of Guantanamo, where 
they had a sharp engagement with the enemy ; several were 
killed by sharpshooters, and their bodies were foully muti- 
lated, in the same manner that the Chinese had mutilated 
the bodies of Japanese soldiers in the war between those 
powers. But the Spanish were finally driven off, and for 
twelve days the marines held their position, waiting for the 
arrival of the main body of our troops from Tampa, They 
came on the 22d, twelve thousand men, forming the Fifth 
Army Corps; a landing was effected east of Santiago on 
June 24th, and in. an action at Las Guasimas we lost sev- 
eral men, one or two of whom were well known in New 
York. The army moved into position facing the fortifica- 
tions of Santiago, the line extending several miles. On the 
1st of July orders were issued to capture the outlying de- 
fences; but General W. R. Shafter, whose duty it was to 
direct the attack, he being the commander of the expedition, 
remained several miles to the rear during the days of the 
fighting, pleading illness. The battle was fought and won 
by the rank and file of the regular army and volunteers, and 



490 HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA 

by tlaeir regimental officei's. The hills of San Juan and of 
El Caney were captured by heroic charges in the face of a 
severe fire, with a loss of nearly two thousand men. The 
ships of Cervera, in the harbor, had assisted the defending 
army by their great guns. But after the heights were taken, 
and it was evident that the next attack would result in the 
fall of Santiago itself, Cervera resolved to depart ; or possi- 
bly he received orders from Madrid ordering him to make 
the attempt. The time he selected was the morning of Sun- 
day, the 3d of July. The world is familiar with what fol- 
lowed. "With the exception of the flagship "New York," 
with Admiral Sampson on board, which had gone down the 
coast to the east to enable Sampson to confer with General 
Shafter, the American fleet was in position; and the action 
was begun by Commodore Schle}^ the moment the first Span- 
ish ship appeared through the mouth of the channel. The 
Spaniards headed toward the west along the coast, the 
Americans runniug beside them on a gradually converg- 
ing line; the firing on both sides being all the while very 
heavy. Within a few minutes all but one of the Spanish 
ships were sunk or disabled and set on fii'e; the remaining 
one was destroj^ed after a chase of forty miles. All the 
crews, and Cervera and his subordinate officers, were either 
killed or captured. Cervera and the other survivors were 
afterward taken to the United States, and finally sent to 
Spain. With the exception of Dewey's victor}'- in Manila 
Bay, there never was a naval battle in which the enemy has 
been so swiftl}^ and totally defeated. Only one American 
sailor was killed. The war was now at an end, so far as 
the fighting went; on the 17th of July Santiago was sur- 
rendered, a peace protocol having already been agreed upon. 
The final treaty of peace, however, stipulating for Spain's 
evacuation of the West Indies and the Philippines, was not 
signed till nearly a year later. 

It only remained to create a permanent native govern- 
ment in Cuba. Meanwhile the island was governed by Gen- 
eral Brooke at Havana. Order could not be immediately 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 491 

restored; some remains of Spanish iufiueuee still survived; 
and the countrj'- outside the towns was infested with bands 
of brigands, which made life and travel unsafe. There was, 
moreover, a large part of the population which inclined to 
prefer annexation to the United States to the perils and 
difficulties of an independent government; but the United 
States, at the beginning of the war, had pledged herself to 
give Cuba to the Cubans, and was resolved to carry out her 
promise at the earliest possible moment. Whether or not 
the experiment will succeed is still to be proved. But there 
is good ground for believing that, from one cause or another, 
the Cubans will ultimately find it to their advantage to be- 
come united to this cpuntrj^; and although the benefit of 
Cuban trade and the wealth to be derived from the devel- 
opment of the resources of the island would be little aug- 
mented by annexation, it may nevertheless prove necessary 
to let Cuba follow the example of her sister island of Porto 
Rico, and become an American territory. In any event it 
is probable that within a decade there will be more Ameri- 
can inhabitants of Cuba than native. The United States 
seeks no empire over foreign lands; but she is mindful of 
the obligations which civilization and the maintenance of 
peace impose; and if the day's work demands it, she will 
not shrink from them. 



THE END. 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



